BARN SWALLOW. 



41 



handful of very large downy geese feathers ; the eggs are five, 

 white, specked and spotted all over with reddish brown. Owing 

 to the semi-transparency of the shell the eggs have a slight tinge of 

 flesh color. The whole weighs about two pounds* 



They have generally two brood in the season. The first make 

 their appearance about the second week in June ; and the last brood 

 leave the nest about the tenth of August. Tho it is not uncommon 

 for twenty, and even thirty pair, to build in the same barn, yet 

 every thing seems to be conducted with great order and affection ; 

 all seems harmony among them, as if the interest of each were that 

 of all. Several nests are often within a few inches of each other; 

 yet no appearance of discord or quarrelling takes place in this 

 peaceful and affectionate community. 



When the young are fit to leave the nest, the old ones entice 

 them out by fluttering backwards and forwards, twittering and call- 

 ing to them every time they pass; and the young exercise them- 

 selves, for several days, in short essays of this kind, within doors, 

 before they first venture abroad. As soon as they leave the barn 

 they are conducted by their parents to the trees, or bushes, by the 

 pond, creek, or river shore, or other suitable situation, where their 

 proper food is most abundant, and where they can be fed with the 

 greatest convenience to both parties. Now and then they take a 

 short excursion themselves, and are also frequently fed while on 

 wing by an almost instantaneous motion of both parties, rising per- 

 pendicularly in air and meeting each other. About the middle of 

 August they seem to begin to prepare for their departure. They 

 assemble on the roof in great numbers, dressing and arranging 

 their plumage, and making occasional essays, twittering with great 

 cheerfulness. Their song is a kind of sprightly warble, sometimes 

 continued for a considerable time. From this period to the eighth 

 of September they are seen near the Schuylkill and Delaware, every 

 afternoon, for two or three hours before sun-set, passing along to 

 the south in great numbers, feeding as they skim along. I have 

 VOL. v. L 



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