324 
FULVOUS, OR CLIFF SWALLOW. 
it for some hours, and amuse themselves by sporting in the air, 
pursuing insects, &c. As soon as the nest acquires the requi- 
site firmness, it is completed, and the female begins to deposit 
her eggs, which are four in number, white, spotted with dusky 
brown. The nests are extremely friable, and will readily 
crumble to pieces : they are assembled in communities, as 
represented in the background of our plate. In unsettled 
countries, these birds select a sheltered situation, under a pro- 
jecting ledge of rock; and, in civilized districts, they have 
already evinced a predilection for the abodes of man, by build- 
ing against the walls of houses, immediately under the eaves 
of the roof, though they have not in the least changed their 
style of architecture. A nest from the latter situation is 
now before me ; it is hemispherical, five inches wide at its 
truncated place of attachment to the wall, from which it pro- 
jects six inches, and consists exclusively of a mixture of sand 
and clay, lined on the inside with straw and dried grass, negli- 
gently disposed for the reception of the eggs. The whole 
external surface is roughened by the projection of the various 
little pellets of earth which compose its substance. The en- 
trance is near the top, rounded, projecting, and turning down- 
ward, so that the nest may be compared to a chemist’s retort, 
flattened on the side applied to the wall, and with the principal 
part of the neck broken ofi*. 
So great is the industry of these interesting little architects, 
that this massive and commodious structure is sometimes com- 
pleted in the course of three days. About the middle of July, 
.some nests found near the Rocky Mountains contained young 
ones, while in others the process of incubation had not ter- 
minated. It is probable that the cliff swallows rear two broods 
in that region, though in Kentucky and Ohio, agreeably to Mr 
Audubon, they have but one in the year. During the first 
few days of August, they assemble in flocks, and, after several 
attempts to commence their migration, they finally succeed in 
obtaining a unanimity of purpose, and they disappear as sud- 
denly as they came. 
