330 THE CLIFF SWALLOW. 



consumed, but Ijees, wasps, dragon llics, and sunie of the larger predatory 

 beetles as well. 



The birds mate soon after arrival, and for a home they select some 

 crevice or hidey-hole about a building. A ca\ity left by a missing brick is 

 sufficient, or a station on the eave-plate of a warehouse. Old nests are 

 renovated and new materials are brought in, straw, string, and trasli for the 

 bulk of the nest, and abundant feathers for lining. Sometimes the birds 

 exhibit whimsical tastes. Mr. S. F. Rathbun of Seattle found a nest which 

 was composed entirely of wood shavings mixed with string and fragments of 

 the woven sheath which covers electric light wires. 



The nest is not often occupied till June, when the l>irds may be most 

 certain of finding food for their offspring; and the rearing of a single brood 

 is a season's work. Five eggs are almost invariably the number laid, and they 

 are of a pure white color, the shell being very little glossed and of a coarser 

 grain than is the case with eggs of the other Swallows. 



I'urple Martins are very sociable birds, and a voluble flow of small talk 

 is ke])t up bv them during the nesting season. The song, if such it may be 

 called, is a successitjn of pleasant warblings antl gurglings, interspersed with 

 harsh rubbing and creaking notes. A particular!}- mellow coo, coo. coo, 

 recurs from time to time, and anv of the notes seem to require considerable 

 effort (in the part of the performer. 



It will prove to be a sad day for the Martins when the English Sparrows 

 take full possession of our cities. The Martins are not deficient in courage, 

 but they cannot endure the presence of the detested foreigners. The Sparrows 

 are filthy creatures, and it may be that the burden of the vermin, which 

 thev invariablv intnuluce to their haunts, bears more hea\'ily upon the skins 

 of oiH" more delicatelv constituted citizens than u])on their own swinish hides. 



No. 127. 



CLIFF SWALLOW. 



A. O. U. No. 612. Petrochelidon lunifrons (Say). 



Synonyms. — E.-WE Sw.mj.ow. RKPrELiCAN Swali^ow. 



Description. — Adult: A prominent whitish crescent on forehead; crown, 

 back, and an obscure patch on breast steel-blue ; throat, sides of head, and nape 

 deep chestnut ; breast, sides, and a cervical collar brown-gray ; belly white or 

 whitish; wings and tail blackish; rump pale rufous, — the color reaching around 

 on flanks ; under tail-coverts dusky. /;; \oitng birds the frontlet is obscure or 

 wanting; the plumage dull brown above, and the throat blackish with white specks. 

 P)ill and feet weak, the former suddenly compressed at tip. Length 5.00-6.00 

 I 127-152. 4) ; wing 4.35 ( 1 10.5) ; tail 2.00 (50.8) ; bill from nostril .22 (5.6). 



