SWALLOWS 455 



In California I have seen colonies of thousands of these birds 

 nesting on the face of cliffs, and sometimes a dozen of the nests 

 were plastered one on another in a bunch so that of some 

 nothing but the opening was visible. This was the original 

 nesting habit of the species before the advent of civilized man. 

 The species has gradually extended its range eastward, and 

 though it is difficult to get exact facts it seems very likely that 

 it was not known in New England until subsequent to the year 

 1800, and probably much later even than this. 



In my boyhood days it was rare about Bangor, now locally 

 it is common, or abundant. Only one brood is reared annually 

 here. In late summer they gather on the telegraph wires along 

 the highways, the young trying their wings from time to time, 

 and I have also seen them perched along the ridgepole of a 

 barn in a similar way. There are several calls or notes which 

 are uttered, including a sharp, angry twitter when the nest is 

 endangered, the twittered conversation that goes on among the 

 members of a colony when at home or out feeding, and the call 

 with which a bird greets its mate on arrival home. These are 

 all too difficult to reproduce on paper, though characteristic. 



The food consists entirely of insects and the same varieties 

 of winged insects are taken as form the food of the Purple 

 Martin. They feed in a similar manner, skimming along the 

 surface of the water or over the fields or high in air. Numerous 

 flies and mosquitoes as well as other winged insects about the 

 barnyards are eaten, so that the presence of these birds is 

 distinctly beneficial. Of course they are a source of disfigure- 

 ment and dirt when they occupy the eaves of a house, but on 

 the average barn they can do no harm. Their nests often 

 contain bird lice, ticks and an insect which to my eye appears 

 exactly like a bedbug and smells like one, too. These insects 

 are parasitic on the Swallows. The same buildings are occupied 

 by a nesting colony season after season, and sometimes the old 

 nests are patched up by their former owners or by other indi- 

 viduals, which, I cannot say. 



