34G USEFUL BIRDS. 



one who walks among the tall grass in the fields may 

 notice how Swallows capture the moths that fly up about 

 the foot passenger. Prof. C. H. Fernald states that Avhile 

 he and his friends were walking throuMi the srrass at his 

 home at ]Mt. Desert several Swallows invariably attended 

 them and fed on dift'erent species of Cram bus in abundance. 

 These ol)servations were continued during several years. ^ 

 Codling moths, cankerworm moths, and Tortricid or leaf- 

 rolling moths are gathered from the orchard hy the Swallows. 

 Horseflies, house flies, mosquitoes, gnats, and crane flies are 

 commonly caught. The only apparently harmful habit that 

 I have observed is that of picking up parasitic insects in 

 flight over fields infested with army worms or cutworms. 



Cliff Swallow. Eaves Swallow. 

 L'cirorlididon liDiifrons. 



Length. — About six inches. 



Adult. — Dark bluish above; forehead cream white and ramp light chestnut; 



throat chestnixt ; other under parts whitish ; tail ends squarely. 

 Ne.'tt . — Built mainly of mud, under the eaves of bams or out-buildings. 

 Eu'js. — Wliite, spotted with reddish-brown. 

 Season. — April to August. 



^Mien the first explorers reached the Yellowstone and 

 other western rivers, Swallows were found breeding on the 

 precipitous banks. As settlers gradually worked their way 

 westward the Swallows found nesting })laces under the eaves 

 of their rough buildings. In these new breeding places they 

 were better protected from the elements and their enemies 

 than on their native clifts, and so the Clifi' Swallow became 

 the "Eaves Swallow," and, following the settlements, rapidly 

 increased in numl)ers and worked eastward. Audubon saw 

 them first on the Ohio in iSlo. They were seen near Lake 

 Chanii)lain in IS] 7, at the AVhite ^Mountains of New Hamp- 

 shire in 1818, at Cincinnati in 1819, and in 1830 they had 

 reached Winthrop and Gardiner, Me. They increased and 

 spread rapidly over the eastern States, and probably reached 

 their maximum in numbers from 1840 to 18(i0. They were 



^ Professor Fernald states that the Crambids feed at the roots of grasses, and 

 that they undoubtedly destroy a large amount of grass witliout being discovered. 

 Professor Webster wrote him that in Ohio hundreds of acres of grass had been 

 destroyed by these moths. 



