OF ARTS AND SCIKNCES 77 



Swallow had been recorded. In 1909 the last two were seen 

 over Cherry Pond on September 21. When the morning awaken- 

 ing of the birds has been chronicled on several occasions, one 

 of the earliest sounds has been the constant twitter of the Barn 

 Swallows at the nearest farm barn, while the darkness remained, 

 proceeding from the birds, I surmised, before they were on the 

 wing. 



131. Iridoprocne bicolor. Trke Swallow. 



A quite uncommon summer resident. My records would 

 indicate that not more than a half-dozen pairs have lived year 

 by year in the region. In 1902, 1903, and 1904 a pair nested in 

 a bird-box on the Highland. The species appears to have been 

 even less represented in the last two or three seasons than in 

 the earlier years. This may be due to the steady increase of 

 the House Sparrows during these same years. In several of the 

 earlier seasons two pairs occupied two boxes respectively on 

 the Hill. But these boxes have been in the possession of the 

 House Sparrows in recent years. The latest records have been 

 of two birds on September 5, 1907, of one bird on September 2, 

 1909, and of one bird on September 3, 1910. 



132. Riparia riparia. Bank Swallow. 



A common summer resident locally. Two or three large 

 colonies and several small colonies breed. In 1902 a colony 

 estimated to number a hundred pairs bred in a sand bank near 

 the Connecticut River in L^ancaster. The shelving away of the 

 bank has rendered it much less suitable for nesting, and in 

 recent years few pairs have been able to make use of it. At the 

 Meadows in Jefferson a large colony has its nest-holes in a high 

 bank of Israel's River. At the foot of the Highland, at an ele- 

 vation of probably 1300 feet, one or two small colonies excavate 

 their nests in the banks of road or railroad cuts, but these loca- 

 tions do not prove permanent on account of the detrition of the 

 banks. The Bank Swallow disappears somewhat earlier than 



