CARPENTERS, MASONS, AND MINERS 
bill No straw or hair or other material 
than clay was used in the walls of these nests. 
After they were completed and dry, a lining 
of feathers and fine grass was placed in them. 
In a few of the old nests housekeeping had 
already begun, and clutches of from four to 
seven white eggs marked with brown were 
found in each. Being obliged to leave that 
locality for a time, I could not watch the 
broods develop. Several weeks later a day 
was spent there photographing the young 
swallows, then about three weeks old. 
The little mother is soft drab brown in 
color, and the babies look like her. One most 
devoted parent remained in the nest and 
let the Man with the Camera take her out be- 
fore he could reach the little ones, and as soon 
as they were replaced on the nest she was 
there beside them again. In fact, at every 
eave-swallow’s home examined that day the 
head of the mother bird was seen in the 
doorway. Blue jays and other feathered 
cannibals were about, and well they knew 
the result of leaving the young unguarded. 
199 
