SWALLOWS. 213 



one great dwelling. A photog-rapli of part of a colony 

 of C'lilf Swallows in Montana shows one Imndred and 

 forty nests, nearly all of which adjoin one another. 



The songs of Swallows are humble efforts, hut are so 

 expressive of the happy dispositions of the hirds, and so 

 associated with scenes with which they are inseparal)ly 

 connected, that the merry twitterings of these birds are 

 as dear to us as the voices of fiiends. 



The sociability of Swallows d(jes not end with the 

 nesting season, as it does witli many birds that are then 

 bi'ought into communities by force of circumstances. 

 When the young take wing, Swallows begiTi to collect 

 in ±l(.icks, which gratlually unite, and in August and Sep- 

 tember form assemblages containing millions of individ- 

 uals. They generally make their headquarters in some 

 large marsh, where they roost in the reeds and grasses, 

 but they also resort to trees. Early in the morning they 

 scatter over the country in small 1)ands, flying at a con- 

 siderable height, and during the day we may often see 

 them feeding over fields and ponds or resting on wayside 

 telegraph v^dres. Late in the afternoon they begin to re- 

 turn to their roosts. At first they fly slowly and circle 

 al)out to feed, but as the light fails they fly \vith increas- 

 ing swiftness, and the last comers shoot through the dusk 

 with incrcdiljle rapidity. 



These remarks a]3ply with equal truth to all our Swal- 

 lows ; it remains now to briefly mention the characters 

 by which they may be distinguisheil speciflcally. The 

 fiiur common species are figured in the frontispiece, 

 whit-li clearly- shows most of their diagiKjstic marks, 

 which are: Tail forked, Barn Swallow; forehead whit- 

 ish, runq) rusty. Cliff Swaflow ; a band across the lu'east, 

 plumage without metallic colors, Bank Swallow; breast 

 pure white. Tree Swallow. 



