EAVE SWALLOW 53 



If, while you are watching Eave Swallows, a 

 fork-tailed Barn (see Plate IV. p. 50) disappears 

 through the barn-door and you follow it to its nest, 

 you will be surprised at the difference in the two 

 structures. At first sight, the nest of the Barn 

 seems a simple cup lined with hay and feathers. 

 On close inspection it proves less simple than 

 it looks ; for, Doctor Brewer says, it is made up 

 of ten or twelve distinct layers of rolled pellets 

 separated by layers of fine grass, possibly glued 

 together with saliva. Sometimes the ingenious 

 birds build out an extra platform beside the nest 

 that they may rest on the doorstep at night, and 

 when the young fill the house in the daytime. 

 Audubori says that when building they often 

 stop at intervals to let the mud dry and harden. 



As Mr. Nehrling suggests, Swallows prefer 

 barns with openings in the gables, so that they 

 can fly freely in and out; and he gives us a valu- 

 able hint, telling us that as the nests will not 

 adhere to smooth boards-, he has often helped the 

 birds by nailing pieces of rough board across 

 the rafters of the peak. 



Some countrymen are prejudiced against Swal- 

 lows or Phoebes building in their barns, as they 

 think the parasites of the birds will infest the 

 cattle ; but it should be remembered that bird 

 parasites will not live on animals, and that, on the 

 other hand, Swallows, especially the Barn, live 

 largely upon the flies that torment stock. The 



