98 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. 
find hundreds of the little Crimson-striped Cicadas ( Tettigonia 
^-vittata), and a green species^ still smaller (Tettigonia 
MoUipes ), hopping in every direction. I suppose they have 
remained all the winter among these leaves, under the snow. 
F, - — These things are all signs of spring ; but there is a 
bird which, when it appears in any considerable numbers, is 
considered peculiarly as the harbinger of summer. I allude 
to the Swallow : as early as the 21st of April, numbers of 
them appeared. I was standing on the bridge near Smith's 
mills, and could not but admire their beauty, as they darted 
under the arches of the bridge just beneath my feet ; they 
seemed to take great delight in skimming along the surface 
of the water, sometimes just touching the surface, perhaps 
catching minute insects, too minute to be discoverable by our 
obtuse senses ; while their backs and heads glistened in the 
sunbeams with the most glossy blue ; and their breasts, and 
inner surface of their wings, showed a bright chestnut, visible 
as they occasionally swept over head. The species was the 
Barn Swallow ( Hirundo Americana ), the most numerous 
of all the species of this swift- winged race, that enliven the 
air during our short summers. 
C. — Is this the species that builds its nest under the 
eaves of barns, as the English martin does under the eaves of 
dwelling-houses ? 
F. — Yes : I have seen between thirty and forty nests 
under the eaves of one side of a barn, nearly as thick as they 
could be placed, besides many which were on the other side 
and at the ends of the building. But this species likewise 
builds within the barn, attaching its nest to the rafters and 
beams. Square or lozenge- shaped holes are usually cut in 
the boards at each end of a barn, to admit the birds ; and it 
is astonishing to observe the precision with which they fly 
through these holes, which are so small as frequently to 
compel them to half close their wings in passing through. 
