80 



THE IOWA ORNITHOLOGIST. 



brood is hatched, small white lice 

 sometimes appear in large num- 

 bers and attack the 3'oung- Swal- 

 lows. These attacks are some- 

 times so severe that the young- 

 birds in their miser}' get out of 

 the nest long before the}- are able 

 to fly. A person may, in a 

 spirit of kindness, pick up the 

 birds and return them to their 

 nest, but in so doing he will 

 probably transfer a number of 

 the lice to his own person, and 

 then his perdicament is better 

 imagfined than described for the 

 lice industriously go to eatir.g 

 wherever they find themselves. 

 Those parasites rarely appear 

 upon the first brood, and never in 

 great numbers. Many of the 

 farmers destroy the nest as r.oon 

 as the young birds have flown, 

 thus compel the parent birds to 

 build a new nest for each brood. 

 Another parasite belonging- to 

 the Order Hemiptera, Family 

 Acanthidae and being closely 

 related to our own darling bed- 

 bug-, is sometimes found in old 

 nests but it is of little moment 

 compared to the lice. Barn Swal- 

 lows have a habit of following 

 nearly every team that leaves the 

 barnyard, darting hither and 

 thither with a speed and grace 

 that is simply marvelous. They 

 sometimes follow teams in this 

 way for considerable distance, 

 probably for no other reason than 

 to capture the many mosquitoes 

 and gnats which gather around 



the horses," (Wilmon Newell, 

 Hull, Iowa.) 



614. Tachycineta bicolor. (Vieill.) 

 TREE SWALLOW. 



White bellied Swallov^, 



"Have never noted this species 

 except during the spring mi- 

 gration, and then rare. The 

 most were noted in the spring of 

 1890." (W. A. Bryan, Mahaska 

 Co.) "Not uncommon migrant" 

 (J. Eugene Law, Dallas Co. j - 



"Arrived at Burlington March* 

 20, 1894. Arrived at Iowa City, 

 April 7, 1894." (Paul Bartsch. ) 



"Common. First swallows to 

 arrive in spring. Nests in holes 

 in trees and stubs. Have never 

 found nest except near water. 



Breeds plentifully along the 

 sloughs ij^nd lakes bordering the 

 Mississippi River. First seen in 

 1894, April 14. Last seen Sept. 

 20. "(H. J.Giddings. Jackson Co. ) 



616. Ciivicola riparia. (Linn.) 

 BANK SWALLOW. 



Sand Martin. 



"Fairly common summer res- 

 ident coming to us about May 

 1 St., and soon after enters upon 

 its nidification. The holes are 

 located in the soft clayey banks 

 of streams, above high water 

 mark and vary in length from 

 8 in. to 2 feet. They are often 

 constricted a short distance from 

 the further end, and then enlarg- 



