BRINGING BACK THE GAME 



19 



swallow by a buffy patch above its tail. The tree swallow 

 is the fourth blue swallow and it is easily distinguished 

 from the others by its snowy white underparts. It usually 

 nests in an old woodpecker hole but it is easily attracted 

 to the garden by nesting boxes placed on poles. A similar 

 species found on the Pacific 

 coast is the violet-green 

 swallow. 



Of the brown swallows, 

 the bank swallow is best 

 known, nesting in large col- 

 onies in sand banks. Each 

 pair drills a small ttmnel 

 two to three feet deep into 

 the sand and at the end 

 of it builds a shallow nest 

 of straw and feathers. The 

 white underparts of the 

 bank swallow are crossed by 

 a dark band on the fore- 

 breast. The rough -winged 

 swallow is perhaps less fa- 

 miliar to us, nesting as it 

 does away from human hab- 

 itations, in cliffs or creek 

 banks, or occasionally in 

 the deserted burrows of 

 kingfishers. 



All swallows are highly 

 beneficial birds, feeding almost entirely upon obnoxiotis 

 insects, and while the nests of the barn swallow are occa- 

 sionally objectionable because of the litter of the young 

 birds, anyone who does not encourage them to nest in his 

 bam shows a most foolish and near-sighted policy. The 

 modem bams with closed wagon sheds and small holes for 



ventilation offer little encouragement to barn swallows. 

 This has caused them to decrease in many jjlaces or 

 even to revert to their original habit of nesting on the 

 cliffs. A colony of purple martins or a few families of the 

 other swallows will do much toward protecting an or- 

 chard from various insect 

 pests or freeing a neighbor- 

 hood of mosquitoes, and no 

 better investment can be 

 made than a few hours 

 spent in building a martin 

 house or a few homes for 

 tree swallows. Directions 

 for building these houses 

 will be found in the March 

 number of American For- 

 estry for 1916. Encourage- 

 ment can be given to the 

 barn swallows by enlarging 

 the ventilation holes, or 

 letting the loft door stand 

 open, and nailing cleats or 

 driving a few nails in the 

 rafters in suitable jjlaccs. 

 Cliff swallows, which do not 

 like painted bams, will often 

 accept one if a narrow strip^^ 

 is nailed against the wall a 

 few inches below the eaves 

 give support to their nests. 

 Swallows are highly migratory birds, most of them 

 spending the winter in South America. The}- begin to 

 assemble in large flocks along lake shores or marshes early 

 in July, and by the middle of September, most of them 

 have left for the South, to be gone until the last of April. 



A SMALL FLOCK OF TREE SWALLOWS 



These are readily distinguished in the field by their blue backs and snowy white 

 underparts. Bird houses for tree swallows should have but a single compartment 

 and be placed on poles about ten feet from the ground. 



to 



THE NEST AND YOUNG OF THE BARN SWALLOW 



This nest is built of mud and straw and fastened to the rafter of a barn. All of 

 the swallows are extremely beneficial birds and should be encouraged in every 

 way. 



A B\NK SWALLOW NEAR ITS BURROW 



Bank swallows nest in colonies making tunnels into sand banks and building 

 crude nests at the end of the tunnels. 



