BARN SWALLOW. 55 



XV. 



BAKN SWALLOW. 



THE barn swallow is the handsomest and best 

 known of the swallows. It is lustrous steel blue 

 above, and has a partial collar of the same be- 

 tween the deep chocolate of the chin and throat 

 and the pale chestnut of the breast. 



What a contrast to the ugly so-called " chimney 

 swallow " ! And not in coloring only. Compare 

 its long forked tail with the short, square, bristly 

 tail of the swift. And then watch its flight 

 the coursing of a Pegasus beside the trotting of a 

 racer ! The swift has wonderful wing power, but 

 no grace. It flies as if under wager, and when 

 hunting, its path might be marked off by angles, 

 for it zigzags like a bat. But the barn swallow's 

 course is all curves. It has the freest flight of 

 any bird I have ever seen. It seems absolutely 

 without effort or constraint. 



The swallows are so agile they often dart down 

 as you drive along the road, and circle around 

 and around you, managing dexterously to keep 

 just ahead of the horses. At other times they 

 run and circle away over the fields and through 

 the sky, and at sunset often haunt our rivers or 

 lakes, skimming low over the surface and some- 

 times dipping down for a drink as they go. 



At rest, they sit side by side on the ridge-pole 



