Lake Umbagog.
Lakeside. Published Auk.
1896
Aug 17-23
(no 5)
  When I awoke at about sunrise next morning (Aug. 22nd)
there were fully 350 Swallows strung along the wires of
the fence in front of the hotel this being a larger number
than we have had here at any time since the 11th.
I took a rather careful census of this flock which proved
to comprise about 100 Eave Swallows, 50 Barn Swallows,
50 Bank Swallows, and fully 150 White-bellies. The
last-named were more than thrice as numerous as they
have been on any previous occasion and the Bank
Swallows had also increased very noticeably while the respective
numbers of the Eave & Barn Swallows remained practically
unchanged. These facts lead me to suspect that the flock
of 200 birds seen last evening did not really depart but
that either during the night or early this morning it
was augmented by the arrival of about 150 White-bellied
and Bank Swallows.
[margin]Remarkable
behavior of
Swallows[/margin]
  I watched this flock for more than an hour (7 to 8 a.m.)
and was amply repaid for the trouble. There had been
a heavy rain during the night & the road was very muddy.
The birds alighted around the edges of one of the larger
puddles in great numbers and walked slowly about
fluttering or quivering their half-opened wings like so
many big butterflies. At first I supposed that they
were drinking or picking up insects but what was
my astonishment to find that the Eave Swallows were
filing their bills with mud and the White-bellied &
Bank Swallows gathering pieces of hay or straw (the
Barn Swallows did not visit the pool in any numbers & I
did not happen to see them pick up anything). Each
bird on obtaining a satisfactory load of mud or grass
flew with it to the fence and after shifting it about