396 
SINGING BIRDS. 
and light are all their motions that the atmosphere alone 
seems to be their favorite element. In the latter end of 
summer, parties of these social birds may be often seen by the 
sides of dusty roads, in which they seem pleased to bask. 
About the middle of August they leave the barns, and begin 
to prepare for their departure, assembling in great numbers on 
the roofs, still twittering with great cheerfulness. Their song 
is very sprightly, and sometimes a good while continued. Some 
of these sounds seem like 't'le 'fk '(letalit, uttered with rapid- 
ity and great animation. A while before their departure, they 
are observed skimming along the rivers and ponds after insects 
in great numbers, till the approach of sunset, when they assem- 
ble to roost in the reeds. 
The Barn Swallow is a common bird throughout this Eastern 
Province, and northward to the lower fur countries. 
It winters in the West Indies and Central America. 
CLIFF SWALLOW. 
EAVE SWALLOW. 
Petrochelidon lunifrons. 
Char. Above, dark steel blue ; forehead dull white ; wings and tail 
brownish black ; rump rufous ; chin, throat, and collar around neck deep 
chestnut ; patch of blue black on breast ; remaining under-parts pale 
gray tinged with rufous. Length about 5^ inches. 
Nest. Fastened to the side of a cliff or the eave of a building ; made 
of pellets of mud and lined with grass and feathers. Usually gourd- 
shaped, the entrance at the mouth of the gourd, — sometimes open on 
top. 
Eggs. 4-6 j white, variously marked with shades of brown and purple ; 
0.80 X 0.55. 
The Cliff Swallows have but recently come to the notice of 
naturalists. Their summer residence in the temperate parts 
of America is singularly scattered. They have long occupied 
the regions of the Rocky Mountains, extending to the banks of 
the Columbia, and the cliffs of the Missouri, and are probably 
to be found on other large Western rivers. According to 
