256 Bird - Lore 



at Machias, Maine, where a large colony had built on a painted barn, the nests 

 supported by a wide cleat. A painted outhouse in Kennebec, Maine, had 

 a few nests under its eaves. At China Lake, Maine, forty nests were noted 

 stuck on the unpainted boards of a dark red barn. Most of the paint had 

 worn off. A painted schoolhouse in Northfield, Maine, had a half-dozen nests 

 plastered under the painted eaves, but the boards were noticeably rough, 

 affording a good clinging surface. The scars of several nests on the smooth 

 painted boards of another schoolhouse in Wesley, Maine, were noted. The 

 site had evidently been abandoned as unsafe. It may here be noted that last 

 year I observed a painted barn and a painted hall, both in New Hampshire, 

 upon both of which were the scars of Cliff Swallows' nests. The birds had not 

 repeated the experiment. 



At a certain farm a set of five buildings, three painted and two unpainted, 

 had nests on the two unpainted buildings and none on the others, although 

 (excluding the house) they were apparently as well suited for nesting purposes 

 as those chosen. 



An interesting observation was made at an abandoned farm in Washing- 

 ton County, Maine. Both Cliff and Barn Swallows were abundant. Hundreds 

 of both species were nesting inside the big barn, a smaller building, and a lean- 

 to shed. Has anyone else ever noted the Cliff Swallows nesting inside build- 

 ings? The nests were built precisely as usual when located under the eaves — 

 bottle-shaped, with entrance at the lower end. They were attached to the rafters. 



The facts here given, covering a belt of territory reaching from ocean to 

 ocean, may be thus summarized: 



1. Cliff Swallows prefer unpainted buildings, and the greater number of 

 colonies are found thus situated. 



2. These birds frequently choose a painted building if there happens to be 

 a supporting cleat under the eaves. Some farmers especially provide such an 

 accommodation. The colony may be large in such a case. 



3. When the space under the eaves is left unpainted, the Swallows do not 

 object to painted buildings. 



4. Birds that nest in colonies are very tenacious of their ancient breeding- 

 places. They will often accommodate themselves to changed conditions that 

 would ordinarily repel them. When the mangroves in which the Pelicans 

 nested on Pelican Island, Fla., were destroyed, the birds built upon the ground 

 rather than leave their ancestral homes. The tall pines near Nashau, N. H., 

 in which a large colony of Black-crowned Night Herons nested were cut down 

 last year. The birds simply moved a few rods away to small pines in a much 

 less favorable situation. When an unpainted building long occupied by Cliff 

 Swallows is at last painted, the birds are extremely reluctant to leave and will 

 continue to breed there unless repeated disaster by the falling of the nests 

 forces them away, as some woodland plants will continue to grow in the open 

 after the forest shelter has been removed. 



