542 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Dec. 



tributed over the whole ground., and every farmer 

 ■who once makes a fair trial of the spading process, 

 •will never again engage in "dunging in the hole" his 

 corn any more than his fence posts. H. 



For the New England Farmer. 



THE SWALLOW FAMILY-No. 3. 



BY LEANDER WETHERELL. 



The next species of this interesting family is the 

 green-blue or white bellied swallow, Hirundo bico- 

 lor, not very numerous over the State. It selects 

 hollow trees, blue-bird and martin boxes, for its 

 place for a nest, which is constructed of dry grass 

 chiefly, being lined with feathers or soft material. 

 It is rather quarrelsome in its habits — idoes not live 

 on friendly terms with the barn swallow, frequent- 

 ly attacking it and taking possession of its nest. 

 Audubon says it winters in Louisiana, in the neigh- 

 borhood of the lakes and marshes in the southern 

 part of the State. It feeds like the other swal- 

 lows on insects taken on the wing. Their note is 

 a sort of gutural chatter. They appear about the 

 time of the barn swallows, and are very numerous 

 about the marshes and southern shores of Longjthologists 

 Island, where they are taken by thousands and sent | The purple martin, Hinindo purpurea, is the most 

 to market, being considered, by gourmands, equal 'redoubtable ot the swallow family, as is well known 

 to snipe. They feed on wax-berry, called bay-ber- to all observers of birds and their habits. Tradl 



blades of scissors." In the summer, they roost in 

 the holes made for their nests. In Florida they 

 roost among the tall grass. When migrating north- 

 ward, they go in pairs, like the barn swallows. In 

 preparing for the nest, both sexes, hke the wood- 

 pecks, work at excavating. They lay from five to 

 seven eggs. Both sexes sit alternately on the eggs, 

 and engage in feeding the young. Audubon remarks 

 that the bank swallow of Europe and America are 

 identical. 



The species called rough-winged swallows, Hir- 

 undo serriptnnis, resembling the bank-swallow, was 

 discovered in Charleston, S. C, by the Rev. John 

 Bachman, a name well known to students of natural 

 history ,who sent four eggs to Audubon with a letter 

 containing the following remarks : — "Two pairs of 

 swallows, resembling the sand-martin, have built 

 their nests, for two years in succession in the walls 

 of an unfinished brick house at Charleston, in the 

 holes where the scaffoldings had been placed. It 

 is believed here that there are two species of these 

 birds." This species is not figured in Audubon's 

 great work. He thinks they inhabit the country 

 west of the Rocky Mountains, in the valley of the 

 Columbia. Little is known of its habits by orni- 



ry also, before their departure, which is about the 

 first of September, and become exceedingly fat. It 

 ranges from the Gulf of Mexico to the 60th degree 

 of north latitude. 



The bank swallow, sometimes called the sand 

 martin, Hirundo riporia, is gregarious in its habits, 

 like the cliff swallow. They are usually found con- 

 gregating wherever suitable places for nesting are 

 found. Sandbanks along river banks,or where excava- 

 tions have been made, are places selected for breed- 

 ing. They commence two or three feet below the sur- 

 face, and penetrate from two to four feet, rising a 

 little from a horizontal line, as if they knew how to 

 keep out the water. At the extremity of this hole, 

 which is rounded out for it, the nest is built of dry 

 grass, lined with feathers. Audubon says he has 

 known one of these excavations made, and the nest 

 built in four days, and an egg laid on the morning 

 of the fifth day. This indicates great industry. 

 Their note is a feeble twitter. They are very ])len- 

 ty on the banks of the rivers Ohio and Mississippi. 

 They have been traced as far north as the mouth of 

 the river Mackenzie, 68th degree of north latitude, 

 where thousands were seen on the Fourth of July. 

 Wilson says he has examined hundreds of these 

 holes in the winter months, but never found a sin- 

 gle swallow, living or torpid. 



Audubon says he was delighted, in the winter of 

 1831, in seeing thousands of these swallows skim- 

 ming over the waters, and along the rivers and in- 

 lets of East Florida. He also saw a few barn and 

 white-bellied swallows, though fewer than about 

 New Orleans. The bank swallow is common on 

 the western coast of North America. The flight 

 of this swallow is exceedingly graceful, light, firm, 

 and of a leng continuance. It is said by Audubon 

 that they alight less frequently to rest than any 

 other species of known birds. Like all other swal- 

 lows, they drink and bathe on the wing. They flap 

 their wings less frequently than any other of the 

 land birds. "The wings act on the hinge formed 

 by the carpel joint, opening and closing like the 



tion says that it was not seen in New England un- 

 til about the time of the Revolution. It was com- 

 mon in New Jersey in 1749, as mentioned by Kalm, 

 the naturalist. This species of the swallow family 

 seems to be on the greatest terms of intimacy with 

 man of any of the bird tribes. This seems to be 

 natural, for so great favorites are they considered, 

 that houses are built especially to furnish them a 

 home during their flishionable northern tour, to 

 spend the summer. This is done also by those liv- 

 ing in more southern latitudes. The slave and the 

 Indian put up a calabash, or cane pole, at the cabin 

 door, to furnish an abiding place for the martins, 

 for they are great insect-destroyers. They ore a 

 little disposed to gossip, and have even been seen 

 looking into the windows, as if to discover what's 

 goin' on within. Whether this habit is natural or 

 acquired from their living in proximity with man, 

 is not fully settled by naturalists. The martins 

 formerly built their nests in hollow trees, like oth- 

 ers of their kindred. 



Judge Henry, of Pennsylvania, gives some very 

 interesting facts in the history of the martins. Ha 

 says they are named as common in Chili, South 

 America, and may be undoubtedly traced as far 

 south as Terra del Fuego ; and north as far as the 

 6()th degree, where Hearne speaks of having seen 

 them. He relates the following anecdote illustra- 

 tive of their habits : "In 1800 I removed from 

 Lancaster to a farm, a few miles from Harrisburg. 

 Knowing the benefits to a farmer by having the 

 martins about, in preventing the depredations of 

 eagles, hawks and crows, I provided a large box 

 and put it up in the fall. Near, and about the house 

 were many fruit trees and much shrubbery — a fit 

 abode for the feathered songsters which were always 

 welcomed. About the middle of February the 

 blue-birds came, and three pairs took possession of 

 the nest. About the 15th of May the martins 

 came, and a war was waged. Though the box was 

 built for the martins, the blue-birds claimed it by 

 right of possession, or pre-emption, as the western 



