Blue and Bluish 
grace in flying, and with a squeak rather than the really musi- 
cal twitter of the gayer bird, the cliff swallow may be posi- 
tively identified by the rufous feathers of its tail coverts, but more 
definitely by its crescent-shaped frontlet shining like a new moon ; 
hence its specific Latin name from luna= moon, and frons=ivon\.. 
Such great numbers of these swallows have been seen in the 
far West that the name of Rocky Mountain swallows is some- 
times given to them; though however rare they may have been 
in 1824, when DeWitt Clinton thought he “discovered” them 
near Lake Champlain, they are now common enough in all parts 
of the United States. 
In the West this swallow is wholly a cliff-dweller, but it has 
learned to modify its home in different localities. As usually 
seen, it is gourd-shaped, opened at the top, built entirely of mud 
pellets (“bricks without straw”), softly lined with feathers and 
wisps of grass, and attached by the larger part to a projecting 
cliff or eave. 
Like all the swallows, this bird lives in colonies, and the clay- 
colored nests beneath the eaves of barns are often so close to- 
gether that a group of them resembles nothing so much as a 
gigantic wasp’s nest. It is said that when swallows pair they 
are mated for life ; but, then, more is said about swallows than 
the most tireless bird-lover could substantiate. The tradition 
that swallows fly low when it is going to rain may be easily 
credited, because the air before a storm is usually too heavy with 
moisture for the winged insects, upon which the swallows feed, 
to fly high. 
Mourning Dove 
(Zenaidura macroura) Pigeon family 
Called also : CAROLINA DOVE; TURTLE DOVE 
Length — 12 to 1 3 inches. About one-half as large again as the 
robin. 
Male — Grayish brown or fawn-color above, varying to bluish 
gray. Crown and upper part of head greenish blue, with 
green and golden metallic reflections on sides of neck. A 
black spot under each ear. Forehead and breast reddish 
buff; lighter underneath. (General impression of color, bluish 
fawn.) Bill black, with tumid, fleshy covering; feet red; 
two middle tail feathers longest; all others banded with black 
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