The Cliff Swallow. 



247 



everywhere from the Atlantic to the Pacific 

 Ocean. Space seems nothing to it. It is 

 here to-day, and to-morrow may have utterly 

 disappeared, not to return for seven or eight 

 months. An admirable discussion of this 

 and other subjects connected with these 

 birds maybe found in Dr. Coues's " Birds of 

 the Colorado Valley," to which the reader 

 is referred. 



Soon after its arrival in spring, which is 

 usually in the latter part of April, the 

 colony of Cliff Swallows break ground for 

 their houses. This is no figure of speech, 

 for the birds do literally dig up earth and 

 construct their nests of it, just as in a city 

 a builder makes his house of brick. The 

 lining, which consists of a little dried grass 

 and feathers, we may consider as the furni- 

 ture of the house, perhaps the carpets, 

 blankets and sheets. 



It is curious and interesting to watch the 

 Swallows after they have settled their mat- 

 rimonial affairs and are ready to begin the 

 construction of their dwellings. By this 

 time they have selected the site for the 

 colony's home, which may be the rough 

 overhanging face of a beetling cliff, or just 

 beneath the eaves of a farmer's barn, or 

 under the overhanging roof of his house. 

 There is a great deal of discussion over the 

 matter, you may be sure, and before it is 

 decided, the spot chosen is carefully ex- 

 amined by the birds, who twitter and call 

 each other, and cling with fluttering wings 

 and outspread tail to the surface against 

 which the nests are to be fastened, while 

 others sweep by in swift flight, examining 

 with keen eyes every inch of the space to 

 see if it will answer their purpose. When 

 the selection is finally made, all the Swal- 

 lows rise in the air, and with a great twit- 

 tering, as if congratulating each other that 

 they have accomplished so much, they fly 

 away to prepare for the work which is to 

 follow. 



They have already selected the spot 

 whence to obtain their building materials. 



and soon you may see them in large num- 

 bers standing about some muddy, half- 

 dried puddle, which has remained in the 

 road since the last rain, or by a pool on a 

 sandbar in the river, or on the muddy edge 

 of some quiet bay, where there is no cur- 

 rent and a mixture of mud and sand is be- 

 ing left here by the receding waters. If 

 you are lucky enough to be about at just 

 the right time, and can approach close 

 enough to bring the tiny workers within 

 easy range of your opera glass, you can 

 see for yourself what Dr. Elliott Coues so 

 happily describes in the following para- 

 graph: 



"Watching closely these curious sons and 

 daughters of Israel at their ingenious trade 

 of making bricks, we may chance to see a 

 circle of them gathered around the margin 

 of a pool, insecurely balanced on their tiny 

 feet, tilting their tails and ducking their 

 heads to pick up little 'gobs' of mud. 

 These are rolled round in their mouths till 

 tempered and made like a quid in globular 

 form, with a curious working of their jaws; 

 then off go the birds and stick the pellet 

 against the wall. * * * The birds work 

 indefatigably; they are busy as bees, and a 

 steady stream flows back and forth for 

 several hours a day, with intervals for rest 

 and refreshments, when the Swallows swarm 

 about promiscuously a-flycatching. . In an 

 incredibly short time the basement of the 

 nest is laid, and the whole form becomes 

 clearly outlined; the mud dries quickly, and 

 there is a standing place. This is soon 

 occupied by one of the pair, who now stays 

 at home to welcome her mate with redoubled 

 cries of joy and ecstatic quivering of the 

 wings as he brings fresh pellets, which the 

 pair in closest consultation dispose to their 

 entire satisfaction. In three or four days, 

 perhaps, the deed is done; the house is 

 built. * * * *" Its form varies greatly, 

 but the most perfect nest is considered the 

 bottle-shaped, which is more nearly oval, 

 one end of the ^gg being glued to the wall 



