Notes from Field and Study 



293 



This summer, one of our neighbors 

 noticed a pair of Bluebirds making a nest 

 in a strange place. A street lamp near her 

 house, in which natural gas is now burned, 

 still has attached to it the little oil-can 

 which was a necessary part of it before we 

 had gas, and the Bluebirds used this can 

 for their home. It must have been rather 

 close quarters, but they succeeded in rais- 

 ing a family of two. 



One of the rural mail-carriers, Mr. D. 

 A. Bricker, tells an interesting story of 

 some Bluebirds he knew this summer. On 

 his route is a mail-box with a defective 

 hinge, which keeps the lid from closing 

 tightly, and in it the Bluebirds built a nest, 

 and raised five little ones, notwithstanding 

 the fact that several pieces of mail were 

 put into the box every day. — Ida V. Reed, 

 Utica, Ohio. 



Rough-winged Swallows in New 

 Hampshire 



On May 14, 1913, in company with two 

 other bird-lovers, I went to the railroad 

 station of Winnisquam, New Hampshire, 

 in the town of Tilton, for the express pur- 

 pose of noting the birds during their migra- 

 tions. In a low, swampy area, beside a 

 sizable sheet of water, we sat down for 

 observations. We were by the roadside, 

 near a spot where the road-bed had been 

 cut down a few feet, leaving a bank on one 

 side. Swallows were flj'ing about and we 

 finally noted a pair which, at first, we took 

 for Bank Swallows. They were hovering 

 about the bank in which there were two 

 or three nesting-holes. They frequently 

 alighted on the roadside telephone wires, 

 which were only a few feet above our 

 heads, and something about them made 

 me look and look again. I called attention 

 to these Swallows, and asked my com- 

 panions carefully to observe their breasts. 

 When they were perched on the wires in 

 plain sight as long as we cared to look, we 

 convinced ourselves over and over again 

 that there was no suspicion of a band on 

 their breasts. Although I had previously 

 seen the Rough-winged Swallows in Vir- 

 ginia, I did not pronounce these New 



Hampshire birds Rough-wings until I had 

 consulted all my bird books, but, having 

 read the descriptions of their plumage, 

 there could be no doubt. Through the 

 summer, and during the next j'ear, they 

 were seen by several people, all of whom 

 confirmed my observations. 



This year, on May 25, I went again. 

 There were three of four pairs of these 

 Swallows in evidence this season, and they 

 gave us every possible opportunity for 

 study, except to allow us to actually hold 

 them in our hands. They perched on the 

 wires, they flew about at the most moder- 

 ate speed, and two of them got up the 

 laziest fight that I ever saw. They 

 grappled each other and fell to the road- 

 bed where they lay sprawled out motion- 

 less, with outstretched wings and tail, 

 occasionally giving a flop when they took 

 a firmer hold with their beaks, which 

 were buried in each other's breasts. They 

 could not have been more accommodating 

 if they had voluntarily posed for their 

 pictures, and I really thought they were 

 going to allow me to walk up and catch 

 them. I climbed through a fence and got 

 within six feet before they decided to quit 

 the quarrel and fly off. 



The moderate flight of the Rough- 

 winged Swallows should attract one's 

 attention at once, as being in marked con- 

 trast to the Bank Swallows swift, erratic 

 movements. Then, the color on their 

 backs is a warmer shade of brown than is 

 seen on the Bank Swallows'. As they fly, 

 the white from the underside of the body, 

 at the rear shows from above — that is, the 

 white seems to go more than half-way 

 around the body near the tail, which, with 

 the brighter brown on the back, makes 

 distinguishing marks worth mentioning. 

 Their call-notes also are different; but, not 

 having the Bank Swallows on the same 

 spot for comparison, I cannot describe the 

 difference. 



So far as I have been able to learn, the 

 Rough-winged Swallows have never before 

 been recorded as nesting in New Hamp- 

 shire, except on the Connecticut River 

 near Hanover. — Ellen E. Webster, 

 Franklin, N. H. 



