SWALLOW, CLIFF or EAVE 



The cliff swallows, as their name implies, 



naturally fix their queer bottle-nosed nest to the perpen- 

 dicular faces of rocks and hard embankments; and have 

 latterly acquired the name of eave swallows from the 

 circumstance that they have readil}^ availed themselves of 

 the eligible nesting sites afforded by the walls of houses 

 under shelter of the eaves. 



Stearns. New England Bird Life 



30 



They sometimes extend nearly across the whole side 

 of a roof, resembling in some degree a long row of hornets' 

 nests. They are made of clay and mud without inter- 

 mixture of other substances ('' bricks without straw"), and 

 lined with grass and feathers. 



Flagg. a Year With the Birds.^^ 



The Hght rump and whitish forehead easily distinguish 

 it from the other swallows. 



There is no evil blended with the many benefits swallows 

 confer upon man. They destroy the insects that annoy 

 his cattle, injure his fruit trees, sting his fruit or molest 

 his cattle. 



Brewer. 



. . . the swallow of the mud nest, 

 He with blue and chestnut breastplate, 

 He with snow upon his forehead. 



BoLLES. Chocorua's Tenants. ^^ 



148 



