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JOURNAL OF MAINE ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



those species of raptorial birds, many 

 of which, liltewise, were cliff and cave 

 dwellers. In order to secure protection 

 from these enemies, the nest of the 

 Barn Swallow type was gradually made 

 with higher and more converging walls 

 until after generations the retort-shap- 

 ed nest of the Cliff Swallow type was 

 arrived at. Like the nests their build- 

 ers had also undergone a slow process 

 of evolution and differentiation into 

 the modern Barn and Cliff Swallows. 



Other individuals of the Swallow 

 tribe had betaken themselves to such 

 natural holes as they might find in 

 sand banks, and by a gradual process 

 of evolution, the constructing of the 

 nests of the modern Bank and Rough- 

 winged Swallows was finally reached. 



The tree dwelling section of the tribe 

 retained their habits until the advent 

 of man and the erection o fbird houses 

 for their benefit caused them in part 

 to seek greater security in the artificial 

 homes provided by man. 



The Swallows, originally all solitary, 

 had by congregating together, where 

 suitable nesting places of a safer nature 

 were to be found, gradually developed 

 into gregarious birds, those of a like 

 species seeking each other's company. 



The cliff dwelling Swallows lay from 

 three to six, usually four or five, white 

 eggs which are more or less thickly 

 spotted, dotted or sometimes wreathed 

 with brown, umber and gray, and in- 

 distinguishable from each other in our 

 tree species. The cave dwellers lay 

 from four to seven, usually five, pure 

 white eggs of varying size, according 

 to the species. 



We will now proceed to discuss each 

 species and its habits. 



The Barn Swallow, in the east, Is a 

 bird which has steadily followed the 

 advancing tide of civilization. In 

 Maine, as houses and barns are erected 

 in the wilderness, these birds appear In 

 localities where they have been hither- 



to unknown. Their nests are always 

 placed in the interior of buildings, us- 

 ually within barns, and upon some 

 beam or rafter. Some nests are placed 

 against the side of a beam, but usually 

 they rest upon something solid for a 

 foundation. On Seal Island, some 20 

 miles out to sea off our coast, I found 

 the Barn Swallows nesting in a fisher- 

 man's shanty. A friend reported find- 

 ing a nest on this island on the shelf of 

 a cliff, which is the only instance of tbe 

 kind to come to my notice in the east. 

 While usually nesting in colonies of 

 four or five pairs of birds it is not un- 

 usual to find localties where only one 

 pair of birds are nesting. 



While in San Diego, California, in 

 1891, it was my custom to frequently 

 visit a locality called La Jolla where 

 for some miles along the ocean front 

 extended a line of wave-washed cliffs, 

 containing many caves, some of which 

 were accessible at low tide. I frequent- 

 ly noticed Barn Swallows flying along 

 this line of cliffs in early spring but 

 supposed they were migratory. Later 

 in the season when it was time for 

 them to be nesting, the swallows were 

 observed in the same locality. An in- 

 vestigation was made and these birds 

 were found to be nesting on the shelves 

 of rock along the cliffs and in these 

 caves near their tops. The nests were 

 typical Barn Swallow nests in every 

 way. 



Like the foregoing species the Cliff 

 Swallows have followed the advancing 

 tide of civilization. It the west they 

 are to be found nesting by thousands 

 in localities far from human habita- 

 tions, and I have seen hundreds, yes 

 thousands, of their retort-shaped nests 

 plastered in a solid mass on the steep 

 face of some inaccessible cliff, while a 

 myriad of twittering swallows filled 

 the air. In the west they are gradual- 

 ly learning to build under the eaves of 

 barns and ranch houses 



