442 NESTING OP THE ROUGH-WINGED SWALLOW 



remain amoug the best we possess. The following account is 

 rendered by Ur. Brewer in his last work : — 



"This species was first found breeding in Carlisle, Penn., 

 by Professor Baird, in the summer of 1843. The following 

 year I visited the locality early in June, and had an oppor- 

 tunity to study its habits during the breeding season. We 

 found the bird rather common, and examined a number of 

 their nests. Ifone that we met with were in places excavated 

 by the birds, although previously several had been found that 

 had apparently been excavated in banks in the same manner 

 with the Bank Swallow. All the nests (seven in number) that 

 we then met with were in situations accidentally adapted to 

 their need, and all were directly over running water. Some 

 were constructed in crevices between the stones in the walls 

 aud arches of bridges. In several instances the nests were but 

 little above the surface of the stream. In one, the first laying 

 had been flooded, and the eggs chilled. The birds had con- 

 structed another nest above the first one, in which were six 

 fresh eggs, as many as in the other. One nest had been built 

 between the stones of the wall that formed one of the sides of 

 the flume of a mill. Two feet above it was a frequented foot- 

 path, and, at the same distance below, the water of the mill- 

 stream. Another nest was between the boards of a small 

 building in which revolved a water-wheel. The entrance to it 

 was through a knot-hole in the outer partition, and the nest 

 rested on a small rafter between (he outer and the iuner board- 

 ings. The nests were similar in their construction to those of 

 the Bank Swallow, composed of dry grasses, strawe, and 

 leaves, and lined with a few feathers; but a much greater 

 amount of material was made use of, owing, perhaps, to the 

 exposed positions in which they were built." 



In this picture of the bird at home we see it already modi- 

 fied in habits by contact with civilization, and require another 

 portraiture, which fortunately Mr. Walter Van Fleet has fur- 

 nished. In an interesting article entitled "Notes on the 

 liough-winged Swallow {Hirundo serripennis), in Pennsyl- 

 vania", published in the periodical above cited, he gives the 

 results of two years' careful observation of the economy of the 

 bird, especially in comparison with Gotyle, I condense most of 

 his article in the following paragraph : — 



The Eough-wing, unlike the Bank Swallow, is not gregari- 

 ous while nesting, the pairing being their only association. 

 The nests are not crowded together, but scattered at irregular 



