222 BEACH GRASS 



sometimes they were fed in mid-air, but doubt- 

 less they did some insect catching on their own 

 hook. At six o'clock they were all back in the 

 nest and being fed by the parents. For four days 

 more this was repeated. The young left in the 

 morning but returned to the nest at night, gen- 

 erally going and coming together. On the fifth 

 night only two returned and after that they oc- 

 cupied the nest no more. I imagined I saw the 

 family party several times, however, as a group 

 of six or seven barn swallows flew past, and oc- 

 casionally they would fly around under the porch, 

 the adults pouring forth their souls in song. This 

 use of the nest by the young as a sleeping place 

 is interesting. Most birds when they fly the 

 nest do not return. 



In "Sand Dunes and Salt Marshes" I de- 

 scribed in some detail the roosting and migration 

 habits of our swallows. Here I will say some- 

 thing of their play. Swallows are social birds. 

 Not only does each associate with its own species, 

 but all four species, the barn, tree, eave, and bank 

 swallows are often found in the same assembly, 

 gathered together for roosting, migrating, feeding 



