98 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. 



find hundreds of the little Crimson-striped Cicadas ( Tettigonia 

 4-vittataJ, and a green species, still smaller (Tettigonia 

 Mollipes), hopping in every direction. I suppose they have 

 remained all the winter among these leaves, under the snow. 



F, — These things are all signs of spring ; but there is a 

 bird which, when it appears in any considerable numbers, is 

 considered peculiarly as the harbinger of summer. I allude 

 to the Swallow: as early as the 21st of April, numbers of 

 them appeared. I was standing on the bridge near Smith's 

 mills, and could not but admire their beauty, as they darted 

 under the arches of the bridge just beneath my feet ; they 

 seemed to take great delight in skimming along the surface 

 of the water, sometimes just touching the surface, perhaps 

 catching minute insects, too minute to be discoverable by our 

 obtuse senses ; while their backs and heads glistened in the 

 sunbeams with the most glossy blue ; and their breasts, and 

 inner surface of their wings, showed a bright chestnut, visible 

 as they occasionally swept over head. The species was the 

 Barn Swallow (Hirundo Americana ), the most numerous 

 of all the species of this swift- winged race, that enliven the 

 air during our short summers. 



C. — Is this the species that builds its nest under the 

 eaves of barns, as the English martin does under the eaves of 

 dwelling-houses ? 



F, — Yes : I have seen between thirty and forty nests 

 under the eaves of one side of a bam, nearly as thick as they 

 could be placed, besides many which were on the other side 

 and at the ends of the building. But this species likewise 

 builds within the bam, attaching its nest to the rafters and 

 beams. Square or lozenge- shaped holes are usually cut in 

 the boards at each end of a bam, to admit the birds ; and it 

 is astonishing to observe the precision with which they fly 

 through these holes, which are so small as frequently to 

 compel them to half close their wings in passing through. 



