264 BIRDS OF ALABAMA 



(near Carpenter), April 22 (1911). Late migrants (single 

 birds) were noted at Seale, May 19 and 20 (1914) ; Mobile, 

 May 28 (1914), and Alabama Port, May 30 and June 5 (1914). 

 Outsell observed the first southbound migrants at Bayou La- 

 batre, August 8, and found the species common at Orange 

 Beach, September 9 to 21 (1911). Holt saw two migrating 

 birds at Petit Bois Island between July 26 and 30 (1913), 



Only one instance of this bird's breeding in the State is 

 known. Under a bridge at Tuscumbia, May 15, 1892, F. W. 

 McCormack found a nest with eggs. As the species is known 

 to breed as far south as Nashville and Athens, Tennessee, it 

 may again be found breeding occasionally in northern Ala- 

 bama. 



General habits. — The barn swallow is a familiar bird in the 

 North, living about cultivated lands and entering with confi- 

 dence the buildings of the farmer. The birds spend most of 

 their daylight hours coursing swiftly over the fields, usually 

 rather close to the ground, in pursuit of their insect prey. 

 They develop greater speed and show more skill and grace in 

 their evolutions than any of the other swallows. From time 

 to time small parties gather on the ridge pole of a barn or 

 some similar situation, where they preen their feathers, play 

 together, and carry on a conversational twittering. The song, 

 delivered both from these perches and on the wing, is a series 

 of musical twitterings interspersed with a variety of liquid or 

 guttural notes, the whole performance animated, cheerful, and 

 very pleasing. 



Breeding originally in caves and cliffs, the barn swallow 

 now depends for nesting sites almost wholly upon farm build- 

 ings and bridges. The nests are semicup-shaped and ra,ther 

 shallow, constructed of alternate layers of mud and fine 

 grasses and thickly lined with feathers. 



Food habits. — The food of the barn swallow, as shown by 

 the investigations of Prof. Beal, is composed almost entirely 

 of animal matter — insects, with a few spiders and snails. 

 Diptera, or flies, constitute the largest item, amounting to 

 almost 40 per cent of the total. Beetles, including weevils, 

 are next in order, reaching about 16 per cent of the total ; the 

 destructive cotton-boll weevil is eaten in considerable numbers 



