346 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 while 

 he and his friends were walking through the grass at his 

 home at ]Mt. Desert several Swallows invariably attended 

 them and fed on diflerent species of Crambus in abundance. 

 These observations were continued during several years.^ 

 Codling moths, canker worm moths, and Tortricid or leaf- 

 rolling moths are gathered from the orchard by 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. 



Petrochelidon limifrons lioiifmnf:. 



Length. — About six inches. 



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



throat chestnut ; other under parts -whitish ; tail ends squarely. 

 Nest. — Built mainly of mud, under the eaves of barns or out-buildings. 

 Eggs. — White, spotted with reddish-brown. 

 Season. — April to August. 



When 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 places 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 clifis, and so the CliflT 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 1815. They were seen near Lake 

 Champlain in 1817, at the White Mountains of New Hamp- 

 shire in 1818, at Cincinnati in 1819, and in 1830 the}^ 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 1860. They were 



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

 that they imdoubtedly destroy a large amoimt of grass witliout being discovered. 

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

 destroyed by these moths. 



