342 THE A]\IERICAN BARN SWALLOW. 



the Barn Swallow as nesting along the rock_\- walls of Hangman's Creek, in 

 just such situations as Cliff Swallows would choose; and back in '89, I found 

 a few associated with \^iolet-greens along the Natchez Cliff's, in Yakima 

 County. 



A colony of some twenty pairs nia}^ be found yearly nesting on Destruc- 

 tion Island, in the Pacific Ocean. A few of them still occupy wave-worn 

 crannies in the sand-rock, o\'erlooking the upper reaches of the tide, but most 

 of the colon}- have taken refuge under the l)road gables of the keepers' houses 



The nest of tlie Barn Swallow is quadrispherical, or bracket- shaped, with 

 an open top: and it usually dejiends for its position upon the adhesiveness of 

 the mud used in construction. Dr. Brewer says of them: "The nests are 

 constructed of distinct layers of mud, from ten to twelve in number, and each 

 separated by strata of fine dry grasses. These layers are each made up of 



^ R 1 — h— f 



■I ^ 



^ 



1— f 



Taken ui Blaine. Prom a Photograph Copyright. 1908, by W. L. Dawson. 



THE NOONING. 



BARN SWALLOWS ON TF.LEGRAPH WIRES. 



small [jellets of mud, that ha\'e been worked o\'er bv the liirds and placed one 

 by one in juxtaposition until each laver is complete." The mud walls thus 

 composed are usually an inch in thickness, and the cavity left is first lined 

 with fine soft grasses, then provided with abundant feathers, among which 

 the speckled eggs lie buriefl and almost in\isible. 



