NORTHERN CLIFF SWALLOW 469 



graph of a colony located on his barn in Newark, Nebr., that contained 

 800 nests. Other colonies of similar size have been noted. The nests 

 located on buildings are usually on old unpainted structures where it 

 would be expected that the pellets of mud would adhere much better 

 to the rough surface. Nevertheless, painted buildings are utilized in 

 numerous instances. 



Not only has the cliff swallow sought out the sites afforded by build- 

 ings of isolated farms and camps, but it has even invaded the cities 

 and there built its nests on private homes and public buildings located 

 on busy thoroughfares. Gould (1906) reports that cliff swallows built 

 their nests on the store of Woodman, True & Co. of Portland and also 

 under the eaves of the Portland Savings Bank ; and I counted 42 nests 

 located under the gables and eaves of a church at Popham Beach, 

 INIaine. Old missions in California, such as the famous San Juan 

 Capistrano, constantly visited by swarms of tourists, are occupied by 

 these confiding swallows. Nor are they adverse to the environment af- 

 forded by a large university campus. Grinnell (1937) and others have 

 had much to report concerning the existence and life of a large colony 

 that has taken up its residence on the concrete walls of the Life Sciences 

 Building of the University of California at Berkeley. Burleigh 

 (1930) reports their nesting on one of the buildings of the campus of 

 the University of Washington. 



The further adaptability of this bird is shown in its ability to meet 

 a situation when the usual nesting sites are not available. Dawson. 

 (1923) writes : "Both Grinnell and Willett have recorded how the Cliff 

 Swallows of Bear Valley, hard put to it for nesting sites in an other- 

 wise delectable country, attached their retorts to the sides and under 

 surfaces of great pine trees." A photograph published by Dawson 

 (1923) shows a colony of nests on a yellow pine taken at Bear Lake in 

 the San Bernardino Mountains of California. The nests are restricted 

 to clusters concentrated on the trunk beneath tlie larger branches of 

 the tree where they are better protected from rains. Nuttall (1832) 

 states that cliff swallows build in trees along the Columbia River. 



When the cliff swallows resort to buildings they usually plaster 

 their nests under the protecting eaves on the outside of the structures 

 but not infrequently they may enter the building. Evermann (1886) 

 writes : "A colony of more than a hundred pairs nested in a shed in 

 Santa Paula (California). The nests were fastened to the rafters, 

 much after the manner of the Barn Swallow. Many horse-hairs were 

 plastered into the nests and these often caused the death of the build- 

 ers. I took from this shed some six or eight birds which I found hang- 

 ing about the nests, they having gotten entangled in the hairs." John- 

 son (1900) found the retort-shaped nests against or under the beams 

 inside a barn. Some of the nests were built against the hay which 



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