AVES—SWALLOW 569 
are low and guttural. Wasps, bees, and large beetles, seem to be his favo- 
rite food. He is eight inches long, and of a rich deep purplish blue, except 
the wings and tail, which are brownish black. 
THE BARN SWALLOW, 
TocETHER with its whole tribe, are distinguished from the rest of small birds, 
by their sweeping rapidity of flight, their peculiar aerial evolutions of wing 
over our fields and rivers, and through our streets from morning to night. 
The light of heaven itself, the sky, the trees, or any other common objects 
of nature, are not better known than the swallows. The wonderful activity 
displayed by these birds, forms a striking contrast to the slow habits of other 
animals. Let a person take his stand on a summer evening by a field, 
meadow, or river shore, fix his eye on one of these birds, and follow for a 
wh... all its circuitous windings ; its extensive sweeps; its sudden, rapidly 
reiterated zigzag excursions, little infericr to the lightning itself —and then 
attempt to calculate the length of the various lines it describes. 
On the east side of the great range of the Alleghany, they are dispersed 
very generally over the country. Early in May they begin to build, and it 
takes nearly a week to complete the nest. It is in the form of an inverted 
cone, and placed up against a rafter ina barn. It is formed of mud, mixed 
with hay; it is then stuffed with fine hay, anda handful of downy geese 
feathers. It is not uncommon for twenty or thirty pair to build in the same 
barn, and some nests are within a few inches of each other; yet the most 
‘perfect harmony prevails in this peaceful and affectionate community. 
When the young are able to leave the nest, the old ones entice them out by 
fluttering backwards and forwards, twittering and calling to them con- 
stantly. As soon as they leave the barn, they are conducted to the trees 
and bushes, by the pond or river shore, where their proper food is abundant. 
In August they all prepare for departure. They assemble on the roofs in 
great numbers, dressing and arranging their plumage, and making occa 
~ 
1 Hirundo Americana, WiLson. 
72 48* 
