34-' THE AMERICAN BARN SWA^^OW 



till- Hani Swallow as iifsting along tiic n.cky walls ..f Ilaiiginan's Creek, in 

 just such situations as ClilT Swallows would ciioose; and back in '8f>, I found 

 a few associated with \ioJet -greens along the XatcJicz Cliffs, in Vakinia 

 County. 



A colony of some twenty \m\r^ may he found yearly nesting on Destruc- 

 tion Island, in the Pacific Ocean. A few of them still occupy wave-worn 

 crannies in the sand-rock, overlooking the upper reaches of the tide, but most 

 of the colony have taken refuge inider the broad gables of the keepers' houses 



The nest of the Barn Swallow is (piadrispherical, or bracket- sha])ed, with 

 an open top: and it usually depends for its position uixtn the a<Ihesiveness of 

 the mud used in construction. Dr. Brewer says of them: "The nests arc 

 constructed of distinct layers of mud, from ten to twelve in number, and each 

 sei)arated by strata of fnie dry grasses. These layers are each made up of 



■"'-::^: 



1 — ^--f 



From a Photografli Cofyrtghi, i»o8. by W. L. Dawson. 

 THE NOONING. 



■AIIN 5WALLOW5 ON TCLKCIIAril WUES. 



small pellets of mud. that have been worked over by the birds and placed one 

 by one in jiixtajMisition until each layer is comi)lete." The mud walls thus 

 composed are usually an inch in thickness, and the cavity left is first lined 

 with fine soft grasses, then provided with abundant feathers, among which 

 the speckled eggs lie buried and almost invisible. 



