学名：Hirundo rustica
英文名：Swallow
分类：雀形目
家燕，又名玄鸟。体长13～18cm。嘴短弱，口裂极深。翅狭长而尖，尾呈叉状，形成“燕尾”。体态轻捷伶俐，飞行迅速如箭，忽上忽下，时东时西，能够急速变换方向。鸣声尖锐而短促。常成对停落在村落附近的田野、河岸的树枝、电线上或居家的屋檐下。常见的夏候鸟。分布广，数量多。飞行时，张着嘴捕食蝇、蚊等各种昆虫。益鸟。世界性分布。是爱沙尼亚和奥地利的国鸟。
Swallow belongs to the order of Passeriformes,also known as the house bird.The body length is 13 ~ 18cm.The mouth is short and deep.The wings are long and narrow, and the tail is in the shape of fork forming "swallowtail".Their body is light and agile, flying quickly like an arrow, up and down, east and west, and they can rapidly change direction.The sound of swallow is sharp and short.They are often in pairs, they fall off the fields near the village, the branches of the Banks, the wires, or the eaves of the house.The distribution is wide and the population is large.When flying, they catch flies, mosquitoes and other insects by opening mouth.It's the national bird of Estonia and Austria,which is useful.
Swallow: distant and beautiful homesickness
家燕是乡村和家常的亲切与温暖。在乡下，谁家的屋檐下有个燕子窝是件喜兴事儿——连燕子都不伤害的人家，还能干出什么伤天害理的事儿呢？
家燕筑巢，要先把衔来的泥土和草茎用唾液粘结起来，再铺上细软的杂草、羽毛、破布等，有时也用青蒿叶一点点积累成碗状的巢。“燕子衔泥”形象地道出了燕子营巢的艰辛。好在它们有用旧巢的习惯。有资料显示，雨燕的巢有的可用50年。“小燕子，穿花衣，年年春天来这里……”如儿歌所唱，不管千里万里，家燕都能准确无误找回“老家”，不知道它们脑子里是否安装了雷达。
别看家燕小小的身体，食量却大得惊人，几个月下来，它们可以吃掉25万多只昆虫。当北方肃杀、万物凋零之际，没有食物了，家燕便成了鸟类家族中的“游牧民族”。不过，我们根本不知道家燕是什么时候开始迁徙的，它们与人类的关系，既亲密，又疏离。燕子天天叫嚷，心烦；但几天听不到它们的叫声，还有些不适应呢——它们已成为乡居生活不可或缺的音符。如今，钢筋水泥的楼房没了家燕的地盘，它们不得不转向桥梁、涵洞下面营巢。能不能找到食物？不得而知。可是，它们远离人烟，使市井生活缺少了一些人情味儿，倒是真的。
当我们告别乡土和老屋，告别童年和过去，怀揣热望奔向梦想中的幸福生活的时候，也许有一天，在午睡的边缘醒来，有毛茸茸的阳光透过斑驳的树隙照在脸上，酥酥的，痒痒的。你舒服地伸个懒腰，忽然听到燕子的叫声——你小心翼翼地找到它们藏身的枝桠，仿佛又回到了上树、下河、在田野中疯跑的童年时光。燕子，虽不是身轻如燕的古典女子，却一定是记忆中曾经穿着花棉袄、梳着麻花辫子的可爱伙伴。而今，她是否安在？做了谁的新娘？恍惚中，日月如梭，流年飞逝，唯有心中的怀想和牵念，鲜嫩如初……
Swallow is a symbol of hometown.It’s a happy thing that there is a swallow's nest under the eaves of the house.
Swallows build the nest by the soil and straw, then pave the soft weeds, feathers, rags, sometimes they use a little bit of the artemisia leaves to build a bowl-shaped nest.The process of building nest shows the hardships of the swallows.Fortunately, they have the habit of using old nests.It’s said that the nests of swallows are available for 50 years.
Although the body of swallow is small, their appetite is big. They can eat more than 250,000 insects in a few months.When the winter of the north comes, insects died leading no food to eat, swallows began to migrate in autumn.Their relationship with humans is both intimate and alienated.In the past,we can hear the sound of swallow everyday,but now swallows are rarely seen in cities.Can they find food in the city?I don't know.However, they are far from people and make the life of the city short of some human taste.
When we say goodbye to the hometown and house, say goodbye to childhood and the past, we are pursue the happiness life with aspirations. Maybe one day,we'll miss the swallows under the eaves in our hometown.