430 BULLETIN 17 9, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



Lynds Jones (1912) says : "The more deliberate flight of the Rough- 

 Wing as compared with the Bank was always noticeable. The flight 

 also tended to be more straight-away, with fewer abrupt turnings. 

 The Rough-Wing gives one the feeling of great reserves of energy." 



Theed Pearse (MS.) mentions that the "flight differs from other 

 species of swallow, stroke of wing being higher." 



Wlien its nest is approached the bird glides out and is soon joined by 

 its mate ; then the two usually wheel back and forth at a short distance 

 away. If bare branches or telegraph wires happen to be near at 

 hand the birds will perch upon them and wait for the intruder to go. 



Dickey (MS.) writes that the "parent, not seemingly uneasy, tended 

 to hover half-concealed behind a screen of black willows, 200 feet 

 away. It would, however, glide out, to see what was taking place, then 

 disappear." 



In describing a pair of breeding swallows, Brewster (1907) writes: 

 "Once they alighted on a large, flat-topped boulder at the water's edge 

 where they moved about by a succession of short, quick runs, remind- 

 ing me of Semipalmated Plover feeding on a sand beach. I have never 

 before seen Swallows of any kind move so quickly by the aid of their 

 feet alone." 



Henshaw (1875) says that on the Provo River, Utah, "they roost in 

 large numbers upon the dead bushes along the banks. So numerous 

 are they and so closely do they sit huddled together that six individuals 

 were secured at a single shot." 



Voice. — The roughwing is, generally speaking, a silent bird; its 

 notes, rather weak and inaudible at a distance, are described as 

 "harsh" or "squeaky" by observers. 



Dickey (MS.) writes: "They give vent to a kind of rasping squeak, 

 difficult to describe in mere words. The exclamations are vented 

 while the species glides upstream or when it is approached near the 

 nest; quiz-z-z-zeep; quiz-z-z-zeep is what it sounds like." Cooper 

 (1870) writes: "They have only a faint twittering note when flying." 



Grinnell, Dixon, and Linsdale (1930) refer to the call of the rough- 

 wing as "their sputtery notes, pssrt, pssrt." 



Enemies. — The rough-winged swallow does not appear to be greatly 

 victimized by predatory birds and mammals ; strong powers of flight, 

 more or less inaccessible nesting sites, and generally solitary habits 

 combine to keep it out of danger. 



H. H. Bailey (1913) says: "The mortality in this section is great, 

 their chief enemy being the black snake." 



Probably the greatest cause of destruction to eggs and young is 

 the flooding of the burrows by spring tides and river freshets. Ac- 

 cording to Wayne (1910) this condition is quite prevalent in the flat, 

 sandy coastal country of the Southeast. It also often happens else- 

 where, owing to the fact that, while this swallow usually burrows near 



