194 



ORDERS OF BIRDS— PERCHEES AND SINGERS 



the nearest pond, it brings pellets of mud, and 

 sticks a lot of them in a 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 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, 



are the Cliff, Bank and Tree Swallows. The 



Barn-Swallow ran be distinguished from these 

 three by its very long and deeply forked tail, 

 the tails of all the others being rather short. 



THE TANAGER FAMILY. 



Tanagridae. 



he mule Scarlet Tanager 1 is one of the most 

 showy small birds of our American Passeres. 

 Excepting its wings, which are jet black, its en- 

 tire pi mage is of a clear scarlet hue, as bright 



CLIFF-SWALLOW AND NESTS. 

 Nests under eaves of log house, photographed by E. R. Warren. 



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 catch- 

 ing the insects which constitute their food, they 

 love to skim close to the surfaces of ponds and 

 streams. 



There are three i wallows which so much re- 

 semble each other it requires a reference to a 

 good handbook of birds to identify them. These 



as the brightest ribbon. There is no precious 

 stone which compares with it, for beside it the 

 ruby is dull. The cardinal grosbeak is not nearly 

 so bright as the male Tanager. 



Wherever seen, the male Scarlet Tanager 

 fixes the attention of the observer, and chal- 

 lenges admiration. It is an early spring arrival 

 from the South, and in Washington, D. C, I 

 have seen it in the parks while the trees were 

 yet leafless. Some of those which came last year 

 to the Zoological Park, New York, felt so secure 

 1 Pi-ran'ga e-ryth-ro-me'las. Length, 6.50 inches. 



