258 Bird - Lore 



the warehouses, barns, and fish-houses, on which they nest in large numbers, 

 are seldom or never painted. 



Though known as Eave Swallows, they are by no means confined to the 

 eaves of buildings for nesting-places but not infrequently enter the buildings 

 and nest on the rafters as the Barn Swallows do, though building their own 

 covered nests. I recall several instances of this kind, notably the long rain- 

 shed of the lighthouse establishment at White Head and the boat-house of the 

 same place, where I knew them to nest year after year. 



On the other hand, a pair of Barn Swallows departed from their nominal 

 habit of Darn nesting and built under the eaves of our house (on a little shelf) 

 until ousted by the increasing colony of Eave Swallows. 



When the old glass-sided box, with its perforated tin cone for ventilator, 

 within which a lamp was carried, gave way to a more or less modern lantern, 

 a knot was picked out of one of the ends of the barn loft, and the old glass- 

 sided lantern fastened up over it, for a 'Martin house.' For, though the bird- 

 house idea has recently engaged the attention of city men "to the westward," 

 the settlers along the coast of Maine have had their 'Martin houses' for three 

 or four generations, and they were as much a part of the well-ordered 'place' 

 as was the bed of bright flowers of European origin brought over by the great 

 grandmothers of an earlier generation. 



Surely, "Westward the course of empire takes its way," even with bird- 

 houses! Nor has the old custom been forgotten in this generation of urban 

 invasion, for many of the old farms along the country roads, and even the tem- 

 porary camps of fishermen on the outer islands, still support 'Martin houses.' 



To return to the old lantern in the barn loft, though its glass sides were 

 objectionable to its intended tenants, it was usually occupied. One year it 

 was taken by a pair of Barn Swallows, who certainly raised one brood in it. 

 The nest, like that of the Tree Swallow was without mud. 



On Matinicus Seal Island, though several open fish-houses existed and were 

 occupied by Barn Swallows, one pair nested for some years (perhaps yet) on 

 a niche of a wall of rock. I found the nest in June, 1896, containing four 

 eggs, and remarked that it was but a few feet above the surge of the breakers. 

 The nest was of the usual type. 



On our coast the Tree Swallows are commonly known as 'Martins,' and 

 are abundant, nesting in the numerous hollow stumps, hollow limbs, and tree 

 trunks, and in niches in buildings affording a dark retreat. 



Prostrate hollow logs dying in the open on the ground often are used as 

 nesting-places. One of my earliest recollections is of an old wooden pump 

 laid on the ground in a pasture, which was occupied as a breeding-place by a 

 pair of these Swallows for several years. They are the ready and almost ex- 

 clusive tenants of the coast Martin-houses already mentioned. Unlike their 

 kin, they do not form colonies, being jealously watchful and pugnacious 

 toward all birds of similar nesting-habits, including their own kind. 



