BIEDS OF THE AIR 



All birds that take their food while on the wing, and 

 seldom or not much in any other way, may be arbitrarily 

 designated as Birds of the Air, whether their prey in- 

 habit tlie air, like the insects taken by the Swallows and 

 Flycatchers, or the cup of a flower, like those taken by 

 the Humming-Bird. Of these the Swallows, including 

 the Martin and the Swift, are the most conspicuous and 

 most numerous in this part of the world. These birds 

 have large wings, fly very swiftly, and without a great 

 deal of apparent motion of their wings. It could hardly 

 be explained on mechanical principles how tliey are able 

 to pass through the air with such rapidity. While watch- 

 ing them on the wing, it seems as if they were never 

 weary ; but Daines Barrington says the Swallow makes 

 frequent pauses for rest while engaged in the pursuit of 

 insects. 



THE BARN-SWALLOW. 



Tliis is the species with which the inhabitants of New- 

 England are best acquainted. But they are every year 

 becoming fewer, and this diminution of their numbers is 

 attributed by Mr. S. P. Fowler to our modern tight barns. 

 Though they often build under the eaves of houses and 

 in sheds, they find in these places but limited accommo- 

 dations, compared with the old-fashioned barns that were 

 formerly scattered over the whole country. There are 

 now hundreds only where thirty years ago there were 



