450 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Oct. 



cape it, as its legs are so formed that it can with 

 ease penetrate the earth in any direction, above, be- 

 neath, before, and behind. It seldom ventures 

 above ground during the daytime, and the night is 

 the time for its depredations. 



These insects prefer moist meadows, and the 

 banks of rivers and small streams. They excavate 

 beneath the surface a chamber about the size of a 

 small hare's egg, carefully smoothed and rounded, 

 where are deposited a hundred or more eggs of a 

 dusky yellow color. The eggs are hatched in about 

 a month; the young resemble the parent in every- 

 thing but the wings, which are wanting ; at this 

 stage they are soft, of a light color, and very small. 

 They are very careful of their eggs, and the pas- 

 sage leading to the cell where they are deposited 

 winds in various directions ; besides this precaution, 

 the anxious parent stations herself above to watch 

 it. There is a certain black beetle which often at- 

 tempts to get at the eggs to destroy them, but the 

 watchful ])arent seizes the beetle from behind and 

 bites it asunder. 



This insect, although so troub]e?ome in many 

 countries, causes very little trou!)le in this, where 

 it is very seldom seen. We know of but two speci- 

 mens that have bet n taken anywhere in this neigh- 

 borhood — indeed, they are the only ones we have 

 ever seen — one was captured by Dr. S. A. Cooley, 

 in Hartford, Connecticut, and is preserved in our 

 own cabinet of entomological specimens, the other 

 was also taken in Hartford by Mr. Henry A. Good- 

 win, by whom it is still preserved. The last men- 

 tioned is a remarkably fine specimen, and was cap- 

 tured during a severe shower, which brought it out 

 from its place of retreat, as these insects are re- 

 markably fond of moisture, and can live almost as 

 well in water as out of it. 



For t/ie Netc England Farmer. 



HISTORY OF THE SWALLOW FAMILY. 



No. 2. 



BY LEANDER WETHERELL. 



Having invited attention to some of the habits of 

 the barn swallow in a former article, it is proposed, 

 in continuation of the subject, to call the attention 

 of the reader to the Cliff or Republican Swallow, its 

 history, and some of its habits. 



The Cliff, or Republican Swallow, Hirundo fulva 

 ofVieillot and Audubon, H. Lunifrous of Say and 

 Richardson, was little known here until quite re- 

 cently. Audubon remarks that he first saw the 

 species at Henderson, on the banks of the Ohio, 

 120 miles below the falls, in the spring of 1815. 

 "It was," says he, "an excessively cold morning, and 

 nearly all were killed by the severity of the weath- 

 er. I described it, and called it Hirundo Repuhli- 

 cana, in allusion to the mode of their association 

 for the purj)Ose of breeding. These specimens 

 were lost, and it was not until 1819 that I was able 

 to replace them. Visiting Newport, Ky., there, in 

 the immediate neighborhood of Cincinnati, my ears 

 were saluted with the chirruping of my long lost 

 strangers." ]M.ij. (Oldham, of the U. S. Army, in- 

 formed A. that they first appeared there in 1815, 

 and had appeared regularly, about the 10th of 

 April, ever !^ince. They had, at the time of this vis- 

 it, fifty nests completed, and several in progress. 

 Until the females began to sit, they all roosted in 

 the hollow hmbs of the buttonwoods, on the banks, 



of the Licking river, the males only resorting 

 thither, while the females wei-e sitting. They not 

 unfrequently attach their nests to rocks overhang- 

 ing rivers, hence the name. Cliff Swallow. 



This species of the swallow family was noticed by 

 Vieillot, in St. Domingo and Porto Rico, in large 

 flocks, about the middle of May ; the year is not 

 given. A writer claims, (name lost) that it was 

 seen in Dennisville, Me., in 1795. The late Prof. 

 Zadock Thompson says, a solitary pair first ap- 

 peared at Whitehall, the south end of Lake Cham- 

 plain, in 1817, and soon after, they appeared at 

 Randolph, Richmond, and other places. Chief 

 Justice Shaw says, that he saw it at tiie White 

 Mountains, in 1816. Some account is given of its 

 habits in Long's expedition to the Rocky Moun- 

 tains. Say observed it in great numbers in the 

 Rocky Mountains, in 1820. It appeared in various 

 places in New York about this time. In 1824, the 

 celebrated De Witt Clinton sent a description of this 

 bird to tlie Lyceum of Natural History, in New 

 York, calling it Hirundo ossifex, afterwards, how- 

 ever, adopting Vieillot's description. The writer 

 first saw them in Worcester county about 1838. 

 They are now very common, and well known to 

 every observing farmer, as they usually build their 

 nests under the eaves of the roofs, occu])ying nearly 

 the whole space from one end of the bajn to the 

 other — numbering fifty nests or more, resembling 

 retorts used by the chemist. 



Being extremely desirous, says Audubon, to 

 settle the vexed question respecting the migration, 

 or su])posed torpidity of swallows, I embraced every 

 opportunity of observing and examining their hab- 

 its, carefully noting the time of their arrival and 

 disappearance, and recording every fact thus gath- 

 ered from personal observation. Observation taught 

 me that migratory birds, removing ferthest south, 

 depart first ; and by parity of reasoning, those that 

 remain longest, return earliest in spring. These 

 remarks were confirmed by travelling to the south- 

 west with the ap])roach of winter. In Lower 

 Louisiana, the Wiu-blers, Thrushes, &c., were in 

 full feather and song. The Hirundo viridis of 

 Wilson, the white bellied swallow, (Le Petit Mar- 

 tinet a ventre blanc of the French of Lower Louisi- 

 ana) remained about New Orleans later than any 

 other swallow. I saw immense numbers of them 

 during November. I kept a record of the temper- 

 ature from the 3d, until the arrival of the Hirundo 

 purpurea, the purple martin. The following ex- 

 tracts were taken from my journal, after a resi- 

 dence of many years in that country, visiting lakes 

 whither these swallows were said to resort during 

 the season of frosts. 



Nov. 11. — Weather very sharp — heavy white 

 frost. Swallows very abundant during the day, a 

 usual occurrence, said the French and the Span- 

 iards. From this date to the 22d, the thermome- 

 ter averaged 65'^ ; the weather generally a drizzly 

 fog. Swallows flying over the city in thousands. 



Nov. 25th. — Thermometer 30° this morning. Ice 

 a quarter of an inch thick. The swallows resort to 

 the lee of the Cypress swamp, in the rear of the 

 city. Thousands were flying in different flocks. 

 Fourteen were killed at a single shot, in perfect 

 plumage, and very fat. The markets were abun- 

 dantly supplied with these tender, juicy, and deli- 

 cious birds. Saw swallows every day, but remarked 

 them more plentiful, the stronger the breeze from 

 the sea. 



