THE OLD GIST. 



69 



ability to so express himself, as to con- 

 vey a good impression of his grammar. 

 There are those not quite so well in- 

 formed, bnt better able to frame his 

 intelligence for the public, who would 

 help him out of that dilemma. Let 

 us have the facts and it will not be 

 necessary to invent theories. Let our 

 increasing know^ledge of ornithology 

 be built up Avith the notes aid fresla 

 observations of plain and unassuming 

 students of nature. Imagined actions 

 and habits of birds do not arise out of 

 the matter-of-fact minds of true na'.ur- 

 alists. Most of the fallacies of orni- 

 thology have their origin in the theo- 

 ries of those who are confident that 

 they can account for this or that by an 

 obsolete line of reasoning ; while 

 meager knowledge of the facts re- 

 quired to support the theories leads 

 many astray. 



*•+ 



Editorial Notes. 



Fauna Boreali Ameeicana, advertis- 

 ed in our last number, was sold to the 

 Rev. C. M. Jones, Eastford, Conn., an 

 enthusiastic collector, and who is the 

 fortunate possessor of one of the finest 

 collections of mou.nted birds and eggs 

 owned in this state. 



John Cassin. — Birds of California, 

 Texas, and Oregon, advertised by us 

 in last Oologist, has been sold to 

 Messrs. Edwin Ellis & Co., of Albany, 

 N. Y. Works of this class are becom- 

 ing exceedingly rare and increase in 

 value with age. • 



A Colony of Swallows. 



( Cotyl reparia.) 

 One morning late in May (1879) 

 found us in a small l:>oat at the mouth 

 of a creeE; which enters the Delaware 

 river about 35 miles above Philadel- 

 phia. We were informed that this 

 was a favorite breeding resort of the 

 Bank Swallows, and so it proved to be. 

 The left bank of the creek was per- 



pendicular, and composed of a hard 

 sandy soil, while the I'ight was quite 

 low and covered with a dense growth 

 of trees and luiderbrush. 



After rowing up th( creek about a 

 quarter of a mile we came to the Swal- 

 low's nests, or rather excavations ; 

 these were made in the bank about 

 live feet above high water mark. The 

 holes were about four inches in diame- 

 ter, and from two to four feet deep. 

 The nests, which were composed of 

 small twigs, in some instances lined 

 with feathers, were generally placed at 

 the furtherest extremity of the hole, 

 and were very bulky. 



The first few nests wliich we dug 

 out were merely completed, and con- 

 tained no eggs, but in the nests about 

 20 yards above these we found the full 

 complement of eggs, which were quite 

 fresh. Then a little higher u]j stream 

 we found the eggs had been incubated 

 several da^^s, and on going still further 

 we discovered nests which contained 

 young birds. It is strange that the 

 eggs should vary so much, the first 

 we found being cjuite fresh, and be- 

 coming more advanced in incubation 

 the further up the creek we went. 



I do not know how to account for it, 

 unless it is in this wise : The older 

 birds commencing to build earlier and 

 further from the mouth of the creek, 

 while the younger ones build later and 

 nearer the river. The nests found up 

 the stream were much more elaborate 

 than those below. 



There must have been thousands of 

 Swallows in this colony, for the exca- 

 vations, which were quite close togeth- 

 er, extended for half a mile, or more, 

 u]} the creek. And upon one of our 

 number chscharging his gxui, the air 

 was instantly alive with Swallows. It 

 is needless to add that we secured all 

 the eggs we wanted, biTt I must say in 

 justice to ourselves that we were very 

 moderate, only taking about twenty or 

 thirty sets. Wm. L. Collins. 



