THE BARN SWALLOW 



By MABEL OSGOOD WRIGHT 



%^e jRational Si0Qocieition ot Siuhnbon ^ocittits 



EDUCATIONAL LEAFLET NO. 32 



Once upon a time, all country children knew a Barn Swallow as well as 

 they knew the chickens they fed or the cattle they drove to pasture; while, if they 

 could only call a half dozen birds by name, this Swallow was sure to be one of 

 them. 



Now, one may live in a small town, on the outskirts of a village, or even in 

 the real open farming country, without having the Barn Swallow as a neighbor, 

 and only know it as it perches on the telegraph wires by the roadside, or flies in 

 great flocks, in company with others of its tribe, to its roosts in marsh mead- 

 ows in the fall migration. 



WTiy should this be when the Barn Swallow is not widely distriljuted over 

 our continent, but, being a bird of the air and feeding upon the wing, it runs 

 fewer risks in getting its living than do the birds of the trees or ground ? 



You cannot tell, doubtless, and yet you may also have noticed their scarcity; 

 so let us spend a few minutes with the bird itself, as well as the conditions that 

 surround it. 



The Barn Swallow belongs to the famil}- of Hirundinidae 

 His Family (equivalent of Swallow). There are over eighty species of these 

 birds, quite generally distributed throughout the world, while 

 nine are to be found at some time of the }ear within the borders of the United 

 States. The Purple Martin, of the glistening purple-black coat, is the largest 

 of our Swallows, being a trifle larger than either Wood Thrush or Catbird, 

 while the dust-colored Bank Swallow, whose coat blends well with the bank of 

 clay or loam in which he burrows his nest tunnel, is the smallest, being less in 

 size than our Chipping Sparrow. 



Though there is considerable variety in the plumage of these Swallows, 

 all but the Bank Swallow show more or less metallic luster in the feathers of 

 the back, all have pleasing mellow voices that are heard in the simplest sort 

 of a song, which (if we except the Martin's rather plaintive notes) sound more 

 like rippling bird laughter than an attempt at singing. In addition, they are 

 all strong and swift of wing and weak of feet; going to prove, as one of the Wise 

 Men puts it, that their wings have been developed at the expense of their claws, 

 and for this reason when they are forced to perch they must choose some very 

 slender perch, such as the telegraph wires. 



In a family noted for its beauty and grace, our Barn Swallow is well able 

 to hold his own; and his chief mark of identity, the deeply forked, white-spotted 

 tail, tells his name, whether on the wing or at rest, so that there should be no 

 difficulty in naming him. Then, again, as seen in the accompanying picture, 



(138) 



