HIRUNDINID^ — THE SWALLOWS. 337 



coast, where they breed on the cliffs, and have all the appearance of being 

 indigenous. They appear at San Diego as early as March 15, a week before 

 the Barn Swallow, and do not leave until October. They build even in the 

 noisy streets of San Francisco. Dr. Cooper observed them catching young 

 grasshoppers, which is certainly unusual food for Swallows, and one that has 

 proved fatal to young Barn Swallows when fed to the latter in confinement. 

 At Santa Cruz they bred as early as April 12, and had second broods July 5. 



The nests of this Swallow, when built on the side of a cliff or in any ex- 

 posed position, are constructed in the shape of a retort, the larger portion 

 adhering to the wall, arched over at the top and projecting in front, with a 

 covered passage-way opening at the bottom. The normal original nest, in a 

 state of nature, is an elaborate and remarkably ingenious structure, shelter- 

 ing its inmates from the weather and from their many enemies. Since they 

 have sought the shelter of man and built under the eaves of barns and houses, 

 the old style of their nests has been greatly changed, and tlie retort-like shape 

 has nearly disappeared. 



In building and in repairing their nests they work with great industry, and 

 often complete their task with wonderful celerity. Where they exist in a 

 large colony, it is not an uncommon thing to see several birds at work upon 

 the same nest, — one bird, apparently the female owner, always assisting and 

 directing the whole. After the work of construction has gone so far as to 

 permit the occupation of the nest, it is often to be observed that the task of 

 completing and improving the structure is kept up b}^ the male. In a large 

 colony of these Swallows, whose nests were built under the projecting roof 

 of a barn in a small island in the Bay of Fundy, every nest was as open as are 

 those of the Barn Swallow. These birds had been encouraged to build by 

 the owner, and boards had been placed above and below their nests, of which 

 they at once took advantage to build an unusual nest. These nests are 

 made of various kinds of adhesive earth and mud. They are neatly and 

 warmly lined with fine dry grasses and leaves, intermingled with feathers, 

 w^ool, and other soft, warm substances. It has been thought that the mud 

 of which these nests are composed is agglutinated by the saliva of the 

 birds ; but of this I have never been able to detect any evidence in the nests 

 themselves, the crumbling nature of which when dry is against this supposi- 

 tion ; and the birds themselves are often to be seen about puddles of water, 

 apparently gathering materials. 



When the nests of a large colony are invaded, the birds manifest great un- 

 easiness, collecting in a swarm over the head of the intruder, wheeling around 

 in circles, uttering loud outcries, and even flying close to his head, as if to 

 attack him, with loud snapping of the bills. 



The song of this Swallow is an unmusical creak, rather than a twitter, 

 frequent rather than loud, and occasionally harsh, yet so earnest and genial 

 in its expression that its effect is far from being unpleasant. 



The ground-color of their eggs is white, and they are marked with dots, 

 43 



