Birds of the World and their Eggs - Card 3 - Australian Swallow

Card has a small tear on one side, and shows some light creasing and wear. That may also be a small piece of the original cereal stuck in one corner! Number 3 of 30. Text says:

The Australian Swallow is another capable flier, which in many parts of the world travels great distances on migratory flights. Australian Swallows do not migrate to another country in winter, but move towards Northern Australia. When they return South in spring they may be seen building mud nests in garages and hollow trees. Swallows must be able to fly well to catch flying insects, so the young ones must be fed by their parents for many weeks after leaving their nests. Old swallows have been seen to fly beneath their tired young and support them in the air.

Also known as the Welcome Swallow, this colorful cousin of is indeed an excellent flier. As evidenced by my somewhat futile search for videos of actual flight of these birds, presumably since they are relatively hard to capture in motion. There are many good images and videos of the Welcome Swallow available at the Internet Bird Consortium. Its interesting to see how agile fliers have a much sharper wing shape, differentiating them from larger gliding birds. And how designers occasionally catch on and use that in new aircraft developments.