In a Mission Patio. 



opportunity to observe its habits. It is 

 a brown bird, with an irregular white 

 patch on the throat and breast. It is a 

 very swift flier, alternately soaring and 

 fluttering with rapid vibrations of the 

 wings, and frequently utters its high, 

 nervous, incisive and prolonged twitter 

 while darting through the air. Large 

 flocks haunted the mission ruins, alight- 

 ing upon the ragged edge of the flat 

 church dome — the only portion of the 

 stately stone pile which still holds its 

 head up in defiance of the ravages of 

 time. 



Upon these same ruined chancel 

 arches the cliff-swallows have plastered 

 their mud nests, oblivious of the pains 

 which had been bestowed by patient 

 hands, no doubt of Indian neophytes, 

 upon the delicate green design which 

 had been painted upon the cement as 

 interior decoration of the church. There 

 is no one to care now how much the 

 swallows may cover the patterns with 

 their homes, and the nests add not a 

 225 



