THE 05L0GIST. 



^n 



65 



made of moss, bark, wool and cotton. 



The White-breasted Niilbatch is a res- 

 ident remaining with is all through the 

 dreary winter months. 



R. P. S:mithwi(JK, 

 La Grange, N. C. 



The Cliff Swallow. 



Petrochelidon luidjrons (8ay|. 



Although this is one of our common- 

 est birds, I will take the trouble to 

 write about it as I have noticed that it 

 has been neglected together with many 

 others of our common birds. 



Ever since I came here, which was in 

 '83, there has been a large colony of 

 these interesting birds breeding in this 

 neighborhood. They used to build 

 their nests under shelves and in little 

 cavities in a clitf on the river about 

 three-quarteis of a mile from our house. 

 Although being quite young I used to 

 enjoy watching the uirds as they cir- 

 cled around their homes ami tilled the 

 air with their twittering. 



In '88 a large high shed was built on 

 the place and in the following spring 

 the birds foisook their primitive abode 

 and took up quarters am )nir more civ- 

 ilized surrnunHings in the shed. 



Undoubtedly they had many enemies 

 in the way of snakes and varmints that 

 ate their eggs and young and they 

 wanted to be near man's habitation for 

 protection. They built their nests 

 along the rafters, oue against another, 

 and some were stuck to the sheeting 

 and some made on top of the plate. 

 The lining to the nests was a little hay 

 or straw. 



I was unable to study their habits 

 until '93 as I was away to school. That 

 year they arriveii March 21 and began 

 to carry mud April 25. It took about 

 five days to build enough of a nest to 

 hold eggs and then the female began 

 laying and the "neck" was m ide at; the 

 pair's leisure. I took fresh eggs on 

 May 9. 



In '94 they arrived March 20. On 

 April 15 I observed some of the birds 

 fi.xing up old nesLs. On the 23d they 

 began building in earnest. 



In '95 I was not here but last year I 

 spent considerable time studying these 

 birds in a more thorough manner than 

 1 had the years before. The flock seems 

 to be diminishing as over 300 nests 

 were built the first year and last year 

 only 183. The young birds evidently 

 go ott' by themselves to breed and do 

 not keep together with their parents. 

 If this is the case these birds are the 

 same ones that built in the clift' 14 years 

 ago and one might venture to estimate 

 how long the birds live 



I will copy from my notebook my 

 observations of '96, hoping that they 

 will not prove tiresome to your readers. 



On March 25 about 8 o'clock in the 

 morning 10 or 12 birds appeared at the 

 shed, flying in large circles around 

 over the Held, and then returning and 

 dashing by the shed taking note, per- 

 haps, of the condition of things. This 

 Was kept up for 15 or 20 minutes and 

 iifter that I saw them no more that day. 



The ne.xt morning about double the 

 number of birds appeared and they re- 

 mained a .sf)mewhat longer time. In 

 about 10 days the whole Hock got to 

 coming and remaining til! about 10:30 

 o'clock. 



Then they would go ott" to feed and 

 return late in the afternoon, going off 

 to roost at sun set. When ihey com- 

 menced coming in large numbers they 

 would lly into the shed and light on the 

 rafters and keep up an incessant twit- 

 tering 



Apiil 22d. they began to carry mud 

 from a water hole 300 yards off, but on- 

 ly a few worked, and they did very lit;- 

 tle 



A l)ir(l on arriving at the water hole 

 would hover a foot or so over a soft 

 spot for a moment and then drop and 

 pick up a mouthful, while it would keep 

 its wings fluttering in an erect position. 



