CHAPTER VIII 



THE SWALLOWS 



Purple Martin — ^Barn Swallow — Cliff or Eaves 

 Swallow — ^Bank Swallow — Tree Swallow 



Apparently there could be no way of earning a living 

 more delightful for a bird than sailing about in the air all 

 day, playing cross-tag on the wing with its companions, 

 skimming low across the meadows, ponds, and marshes, or 

 rising high above them and darting hither and thither wher- 

 everfancy leads, withoutknowingwhatitmeans to feel tired. 

 Swallows are as much in their element when in the air as 

 fish are in water; but of course they are not there simply for 

 fun. Their long, blade-like wings, which cut the air with 

 such easy but powerful strokes, propel them enormous dis- 

 tances before they have collected enough mosquitoes, gnats, 

 and other little gauzy-winged insects to supply such great 

 energy and satisfy their hunger. With mouth widely 

 gaping, leaving an opening in the front of their broad 

 heads that stretches from ear to ear, they must get a 

 tremendous draft down their little throats, but they 

 gather in a dinner piecemeal just as the chimney-swift, 

 whippoorwill, and nighthawk do. Viscid saliva in the 

 bird's mouth glues the little victims as fast as if they were 

 caught on sticky ^fly-paper; then, when enough have been 

 trapped to make a pellet, the swallow swallows them in a 



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