248 



The Cliff Sivallow. 



for support, and the other being prolonged 

 into the generally downward directed neck. 

 Nowadays, however, and especially under 

 the eaves of dwellings, we are more likely 

 to find nests without any roofs at all, mere 

 cup-shaped structures, fastened by one side 

 to the wall, since the projection beneath 

 which they are built affords shelter from 

 the elements. Indeed, whether the sup- 

 port of the nest be natural or artificial, an 

 effort seems usually made to so locate the 

 structure that it shall be in a measure pro- 

 tected from the rain. As already hinted, 

 the sun-dried mud when wet is not the 

 most secure material for a house, and it is 

 not unusual after a violent storm to find at 

 the foot of some cliff the wreck of many 

 once happy Swallow homes, where frag- 

 ments of nests, broken eggs, and dead 

 featherless nestlings show what destruction 

 has overtaken one of these aerial towns. 



The four eggs, white, spotted with dark 

 brown, are equally the pride and delight of 

 both parents, and while the mother bird lov- 

 ingly broods them in her warm, dry home, 

 the father is abroad, swinging constantly 

 through the air, catching insects which he 

 brings home to feed his mate. She wel- 

 comes him with cries of joy, and perhaps 

 for a little while he sits on the doorstep 

 of the house and tells her what he has seen 

 during his last excursion, and then after a 

 little rest, hurries off again on another hunt- 

 ing expedition. When the young are hatched 

 both parents are kept bu.sy in providing 

 them with food, and ere long one or more 

 of the little ones may be seen at the mouth 

 of the nest awaiting the parents' return. 

 The young are ready to fly usually about 

 the last of July, and as soon as they have 

 had sufficient practice to make it safe for 

 them to undertake the long journey south- 

 ward, usually in New York and Connecti- 

 cut about the last of August or first of 

 September, the Swallows, after great prep- 

 arations and many long practice flights, 

 take their course to warmer climes. The 



young Swallows are easily affected by cold, 

 and we have seen, during a northeast storm 

 in August, a whole row of them sitting on 

 a window sill on the leeward side of a 

 house, looking as bedraggled and uncom- 

 fortable as possible. They evidently did 

 not know man as an enemy, and looked up 

 with the most perfect confidence into the 

 face of an observer who came to the win- 

 dow. 



The food of the Cliff Swallow, like that 

 of most species of this group, consists wholly 

 of insects, which it generally pursues and 

 seizes on the wing, though in the high 

 mountains of the West we have seen it in 

 the early morning feeding on the ground 

 upon insects which had been chilled by the 

 frost of the preceding night. Dr. Coues, in 

 the work already cited, calls attention to the 

 vastness of the number of annoying or in- 

 jurious insects which these birds destroy 

 and preaches a sermon on the folly and 

 wickedness of destroying them, which might 

 be read with profit by the thoughtless. 

 He concludes with these forcible words: 

 " Things both useful and beautiful are not 

 so common that we can afford to sacrifice 

 them in vain. The rowdy boys and all the 

 crew of tramps and potters of the gun who 

 shoot Swallows for sport may be seriously 

 admonished that these birds are worth 

 more to society than their idle vicious 

 selves." 



The Cliff Swallow is 5^3 inches in length 

 and about 12 in extent of wings. The 

 top of the head, a spot on the throat and 

 the back, are lustrous steel blue. A collar, 

 grayish brown, separates the blue-black of 

 the head and back. Forehead marked with 

 a semilunar band of white or brownish red. 

 Chin, throat and sides of head brownish 

 red. Other under parts rusty gray, fading 

 to white on the belly. Wings and tail 

 brownish black. Bill black, feet brown. 

 The male and female are alike. The young 

 are paler throughout, and lack the black 

 spot on the throat. 



