﻿516 Canadian Record of Science. 



ings than was afforded by the overhanging cliffs of earth 

 or stone which it once used, and to which it still resorts 

 occasionally in the East, and habitually in the unsettled 

 West. The martin (Progne sithis) and white-bellied swal- 

 low {Tachycineta hicolor) nest either in houses supplied 

 for the purpose, in abandoned nests of woodpeckers, or in 

 natural crannies in rocks. The other species have not 

 yet abandoned their primitive habitats, but possibly may 

 do so as the country becomes more thickly settled. 



Field observation will convince any ordinarily attentive 

 person that the food of swallows must consist of the 

 smaller insects captured in mid-air, or perhaps in some 

 cases picked from the tops of tall grass or weeds; This 

 observation is borne out by an examination of stomachs, 

 which shows that the food consists of many small species 

 of beetles which are much on the wing ; many species of 

 Diptera (mosquitoes and their allies), with large quantities 

 of flying ants and a few insects of similar kinds. Most of 

 them are either injurious or annoying, and the numbers 

 destroyed by swallows are not only beyond calculation, 

 but almost beyond imagination. 



The white-bellied swallow eats a considerable number 

 of berries of the bay berry, or wax myrtle. Daring migra- 

 tions and in winter it has a habit of roosting in these 

 shrubs, and it probably obtains the fruit at that time. 



It is a mistake to tear down the nests of a colony of 

 cliff swallows from the eaves of a barn, for so far from 

 disfiguring a building, the nests make a picturesque addi- 

 tion, and their presence should be encouraged by every 

 device. It is said that cliff and barn swallows can be 

 induced to build their nests in a particular locality, other- 

 wise suitable, by providing a quantity of mud to be used 

 as mortar. Barn swallows may also be encouraged by 

 cutting a small hole in a gable of the barn, while martins 

 and white-bellied swallows will be grateful for boxes like 

 those for the bluebird, but placed in some higher situation. 



