6o6 
A YEAR WITH THE BIRDS 
and cliffs in which it formerly nested. More recently the Cliff 
Swallow ( Petrochelidon Innifrons) has found a better nesting 
site under the eaves of buildings than was afforded by the over- 
hanging cliffs of earth or stone which it once used, and to which 
it still resorts occasionally in the east, and habitually in the un- 
settled west. The Martin ( Progne subis) and White-bellied 
Swallow ( Tachycineta bicolor) nest either in houses supplied 
for the purpose, in abandoned nests of Woodpeckers, or in 
natural crannies in rocks. The other species have not yet 
abandoned their primitive habitats, but possibly may do so as 
the country becomes more thickly settled. 
Field observation will convince any ordinarily attentive per- 
son that the food of Swallows must consist of the smaller in- 
sects captured in mid-air, or perhaps in some cases picked from 
the tops of tall grass or weeds. This observation is borne out 
by an examination of stomachs, which shows that the food con- 
sists of many small species of beetles which are much on the 
wing; many species of Diptera (mosquitoes and their allies), 
with large quantities of flying ants and a few insects of similar 
kinds. Most of them are either injurious or annoying, and the 
numbers destroyed by Swallows are not only beyond calcula- 
tion, but almost beyond imagination. 
The White-bellied Swallow eats a considerable number of 
berries of the bayberry, or wax myrtle. During migrations 
and in winter it has a habit of roosting in these shrubs, and it 
probably obtains the fruit at that time. 
It is a mistake to tear down the nests of a colony of Cliff 
Swallows from the eaves of a barn, for so far from disfiguring 
a building the nests make a picturesque addition, and their 
presence should be encouraged by every device. It is said that 
Cliff and Barn Swallows can be induced to build their nests in 
a particular locality, otherwise suitable, by providing a quantity 
of mud to be used as mortar. Barn Swallows may also be en- 
couraged by cutting a small hole in the gable of the barn, while 
Martins and White-bellied Swallows will be grateful for boxes 
like those for the Bluebird, but placed in some higher situation. 
— F. E. L. Beal , BS. 
Family Hirundinidae: Swallows 
Purple Martin : Progne subis. S. R. 
Length: 7.50 inches. 
Male and Female: Deep, glossy, bluish purple, turning to black on 
