BIRDS OF PEASEMARSH 



what was once the site of an Indian village. 

 Some of the oldest residents who can remem- 

 ber the bank as it appeared in those days, say 

 it was high and sandy in places then as it is 

 now ; so it is likely that it has always been the 

 home of the Swallows, and this is doubtless 

 why swarms of black flies that have troubled 

 other places have not existed here. 



Sometimes in the early summer evenings the 

 whole colony will join with the Swifts and 

 Barn Swallows and fly about above the tree 

 tops, here and there, in graceful curves and 

 circles. It is a beautiful sight to watch hun- 

 dreds of these birds circling above the house 

 and barn and elms and aspens, especially when, 

 as they come downwards or rise upwards, 

 their wings catch gleams from the setting sun. 

 Children will watch them for hours trying to 

 distinguish, even at that distance, the fork-tails 

 of the Barn Swallows and the blunt tails of the 

 Swifts. 



Another member of the Swallow family that, 

 like the Barn Swallow, makes a nest of mud, is 

 the Cliff Swallow. This bird in its natural 

 state plasters its nest under cliffs, and hence 

 the name. It, too, will come to the buildings 

 [39] 



