A SWIFT-WINGED TRIBE. 115 



Sometimes several families of young swal- 

 lows which have just left their nests may be 

 seen sitting in a row on a fence rail or some 

 other perch, waiting for their parents to bring 

 them their luncheons, and all the while keep- 

 ing up an incessant chirping. You may get 

 quite close to them, but just when you have 

 made up your mind that they are still too 

 young to fly and that you can catch them, 

 away they skim, with almost as much ease as 

 their elders. 



A bare mention can be made of the tree 

 swallows, which build their nests in the de- 

 serted woodpecker holes of trees in the vicin- 

 ity of marshes, ponds, and rivers, the beautiful 

 violet-green swallows of our Western States, 

 and of the rough- winged swallows, which nest 

 in the crevices of stone walls and bridge 

 arches. 



