158 SWALLOWS. 
one great dwelling. A photograph of part of a colony 
of Cliff Swallows in Montana shows one hundred and 
forty nests, nearly all of which adjoin one another. 
The songs of Swallows are humble efforts, but are so 
expressive of the happy dispositions of the birds, and so 
associated with scenes with which they are inseparably 
connected, that the merry twitterings of these birds are 
as dear to us as the voices of friends. 
The sociability of Swallows does not end with the 
nesting season, as it does with many birds that are then 
brought into communities by force of circumstances. 
When the young take wing, Swallows begin to collect 
in flocks, which gradually unite, and in August and Sep- 
tember form assemblages containing millions of individ- 
uals. They generally make their headquarters in some 
large marsh, where they roost in the reeds and grasses, 
but they also resort to trees. Early in the morning they 
scatter over the country in small bands, flying at a con- 
siderable height, and during the day we may often see 
them feeding over fields and ponds or, resting on wayside 
telegraph wires. Late in the afternoon they begin to re- 
turn to their roosts. At first they fly slowly and circle 
about to feed, but as the light fails they fly with increas- 
ing swiftneas, and the last comers shoot through the dusk 
with incredible rapidity. 
These remarks apply with equal truth to all our Swal- 
lows; it remains now to briefly mention the characters 
by which they may be distinguished specifically. The 
four common species are figured in the frontispiece, 
which clearly shows most of their diagnostic marks, 
which are: Tail forked, Barn Swallow; forehead whit- 
ish, rump rusty, Cliff Swallow ; a band across the breast, 
plumage without metallic colors, Bank Swallow; breast 
pure white, Tree Swallow. 
