BIRD PARADISE 83 



home once they have a dozen times. About the 

 only language they use is the word flicker, pro- 

 nounced with a great variety of inflections. 



Only one place that I know of about here 

 where the eave swallow nests. Under the eaves 

 of the barn on the old Osborn place near Day- 

 tonville I counted forty nests last year. In my 

 boyhood they made their homes every year on 

 several different farms in this locality. The 

 largest number I ever saw in any one place was 

 at the barn of Harvey Head on the Cassville 

 road. I have forgotten the number of nests he 

 used to report but I remember the swallows were 

 about the building in great numbers. Mr. Head 

 gave them large welcome and they repaid it in 

 the destruction of thousands of insects. Barns, 

 as they are now built, furnish but little oppor- 

 tunity for the swallow to place his nest securely. 

 The flight of this bird is true to all the traditions 

 of his large family. His movement is easy and 

 graceful and from anything I can discover may 

 be continued almost indefinitely without any ap- 

 parent weariness. The nests are curious pockets 

 built of mud with short necks through which the 

 bird reaches the inner parts of the house. Some 



