BARN SWALLOW 441 



During the latter part of April the pioneers of the Barn Swallow host usually 

 appear in Massachusetts. Sometimes they come too early and are met by 

 cold and storm and so, unable to obtain food, they seek shelter in some build- 

 ing or huddle together behind a closed blind or window sill on the south side 

 of a house until the sky clears and the tempei'ature moderates. By snuggling 

 together in their nest, some of these birds have been able to survive two or 

 three cold days, when morning outdoor temperatures were as low at 15 to 17 

 degrees above zero mark, but such temperatures may be fatal, even when the 

 birds are well protected. 



If, when the Swallows arrive, they find the building closed in which they 

 are accustomed to breed, they sometimes approach the house and fly about 

 it, or about any inmate who appears, twittering and calling until someone 

 takes pity on them and opens a door or window, when they immediately 

 enter, showing their gratification by happy excited twittering. Many farmers 

 cut a small hole in a barn gable to accommodate the birds. 



At the northern end of the migration route the arrival is, of course, 

 much later. Dr. E. W. Nelson (1887) says that, in northern Alaska, 

 "this swallow arrives as soon as mild spring weather sets in, gener- 

 ally from the 18th to the 23d of May. The sea is still covered with 

 an unbroken surface of ice as far as the eye can reach, and winter 

 appears to be hardly gone when the first arrivals reach Saint Michaels 

 and come fluttering about their former nesting sites." Lucien M. 

 Turner (1886) places its arrival at a somewhat later date: 



The Barn Swallow arrives at Saint Michael's about the 7th of June. A few 

 of the more intrepid ones may arrive some few days earlier. By the 15th 

 of the month as many as forty pairs have been counted in the dusk of twi- 

 light, which is light enough to see to read by at midnight during this season of 

 the year. * * * 



In the spring of 1876 snow squalls and frosty weather held until late in 

 June. The poor birds had had no opportunity to recover their exhausted con- 

 dition, resulting from their long flight to the north. Many of them succumbed 

 to the chilling weather, while others, benumbed by the cold, permitted them- 

 selves to be handled and seemed to enjoy the warmth given out by the hand, 

 as they nestled closely between them, without evincing any fear. 



Courtship. — The actions of mating barn swallows are most pleas- 

 ing to watch, as much of their love-making is done on the wing. 

 Long, graceful pursuit flights carry the birds in and out of the barns, 

 back and forth through the barnyard, around the buildings where 

 they are accustomed to nest, or out over the open fields. Their flight 

 is swift and hurried, accompanied by constant twittering or louder 

 excited outcries, as if each were trying to outdo the other in their 

 expression of springtime ardor. Finally, the female, satisfied that 

 her pursuer is worthy of her, comes to rest on some convenient perch, 

 the roof of the barn or a telephone wire. By way of invitation she 

 twitches her wings and tail and turns her head from side to side, as 

 the male flutters up and alights close beside her. There they rub 

 their heads and necks together, interlock their bills, or preen each 



