THE CLIFF SWALLOW 297 
Tur Eaves, or Cuirr Swauiow’ is still more sociable than 
the purple martin, and also more enterprising. With com- 
plete confidence in man’s good will toward the bird world, it 
chooses a barn that is big and high, and prosperous-looking, 
and calls it home. From the edge of the nearest pond it 
brings pellets of mud, and sticks a lot of them ina solid circle, 
against the outside wall of the barn, and close up under the 
eaves. Upon this, working 
most industriously to finish 
before previous layers have AC 
had time to dry, the cup- 
shaped nest is built out, 
pellet by pellet. At the 
last, the cup is narrowed 
down to a tube barely large 
enough to admit the bird, 
and the opening thrusts 
out into the air, usually 
tilted slightly upward. 
All the members of a 
flock of Swallows build 
close together, nest joined to nest very frequently, and thus 
depends a most interesting Swallow town, usually called a 
“colony.” Surely, any one who is not pleased and cheered 
by their sweet chattering and chirping under the eaves is “‘fit 
for treason, stratagems and spoils.” Their flight is poetry 
expressed in motion. In catching the insects which consti- 
tute their food, they love to skim close to the surfaces of 
BARN SWALLOW. 
Hi-run'do e-ryth'ro-gas-tra. 
ponds and streams. 
1 Pet-ro-chel'i-don lu'ni-frons. Length, 5.75 inches. 
