JOURNAL OF MAINK ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY. Q 



when they would enter their nests, and feed their young. It seemed 

 that they never made a mistake, but always knew what entrance to 

 approach. 



Now and then an adult could be seen feeding a youngster on 

 the wing. I imagine it must have been a delicate performance, 

 both birds fluttering their wings rapidly and presenting much the 

 appearance of a combat, such as I have seen between two English 

 Sparrows. Occasionally a young one, not quite bold enough to 

 trust to his wings, would completely obstruct the entrance and be 

 fed there by one of the adults, the latter with braced tail and toes 

 clinging tightly to the earth. 



So pleased was I with the colony in 1906 that I decided to visit 

 it again this year, and, if possible, to secure some pictures. On June 

 30th, 1907, therefore, I went to the place again. The colony seemed 

 not to be quite so large as before, and I removed from one or two of 

 the holes sticks and stones which had been placed there by either 

 an evil-minded or a thoughtless person. 



Hugging close under the bank were two young birds, appar- 

 ently unable to fly well. They were quite easily captured, but I 

 found that they were by no means unable to fly and it was with 

 great difficulty that photographs were secured. When just ready 

 to make an exposure, away would fly the bird. He must have been 

 captured and recaptured at least a half-dozen times. He seemed to 

 be possessed with the natural instinct to fly in a circuitous route 

 and attempt to enter the dwellings at a different point along the 

 bank. His judgment in flying for a hole seemed to fail him, how- 

 ever, and, his strength wasted, he would be obliged to flutter down 

 the steep bank until lodged somewhere and allow me to pick him 

 up. 



I do not know whether more than one brood is brought forth 

 in a season, but I am inclined to think not. 



At the end of the summer I have often seen the Bank Swallows 

 perched on wires, together with such other species as the Barn 

 Swallow and the Tree Swallow, preparatory to the great southern 

 migration, to the land of insect food. 



