DO SWALLOWS HIBERNATE f 171 



Let us turn now to a less abundant, but no less inter- 

 esting species, the cliff-swallow. This bird, instead of 

 burrowing into a bank, builds an elaborate nest of mud 

 under the eaves of barns, along rocky ledges, and, in New 

 Jersey more frequently than elsewhere, on the beams sup- 

 porting the floors of bridges. Proximity to the water is 

 desirable evidently, but is not an essential condition of 

 the locality chosen for their nests. As in the case of the 

 bank-swallow, these birds also live in large communities, 

 and present much the same general features of swallow- 

 life. 



The peculiarity of their nest, in being made of mud, 

 of course necessitates frequent visits to water, whence 

 they derive this material for their nests. Now, unlike 

 the bank-swallow, the cliff-swallow is a late arrival, and 

 no sooner here, tired as he must be, than he commences 

 the work of building a new nest or of repairing the old 

 one. In either case it is absolutely necessary that he 

 should dabble in the mud. Day in and day out, for a 

 week or more, his whole time seems spent in mixing mor- 

 tar by the water's side, and transporting it in little bits 

 to the nest. He is wet and bedraggled much of the 

 time ; and if a cold northeasterly rain sets in, as is so 

 often the case during the first week in May, then these 

 swallows are in a sorry plight indeed, and, suspending 

 building operations, they huddle about in numbers, twit- 

 tering mournfully, on the principle that misery loves 

 company. Such storms even sometimes prove fatal to 

 many of them, and they are more frequently found 

 dead near their nests than are individuals of any other 

 species. Find them, then, during a storm, or even notice 

 them, for the first time, when they are sitting on the 

 ground near the water, dripping wet at times, and the 

 impression you will have will be that of Kalm, that they 



