THE CLIFF SWALLOW 



297 



\4r 



JT 



The Eave, or Cliff Swallow 1 is still more sociable than 

 the purple martin, and also more enterprising. With com- 

 plete confidence in man's good will toward the bird world, it 

 chooses a barn that is big and high, and prosperous-looking, 

 and calls it home. From the edge of the nearest pond it 

 brings pellets of mud, and sticks a lot of them in a solid circle, 

 against the outside wall of the barn, and close up under the 

 eaves. Upon this, working 

 most industriously to finish 

 before previous layers have 

 had time to dry, the cup- 

 shaped nest is built out, 

 pellet by pellet. At the 

 last, the cup is narrowed 

 down to a tube barely large 

 enough to admit the bird, 

 and the opening thrusts 

 out into the air, usually 

 tilted slightly upward. 



All the members of a 

 flock of Swallows build 



close together, nest joined to nest very frequently, and thus 

 depends a most interesting Swallow town, usually called a 

 "colony." Surely, any one who is not pleased and cheered 

 by their sweet chattering and chirping under the eaves is "fit 

 for treason, stratagems and spoils." Their flight is poetry 

 expressed in motion. In catching the insects which consti- 

 tute their food, they love to skim close to the surfaces of 

 ponds and streams. 



1 Pet-ro-chel'i-don lu'ni-frons. Length, 5.75 inches. 



BARN SWALLOW. 

 Hi-run'do e-ryth'ro-gas-tra. 



