466 
BIRDS OF NEW MEXICO 
near Palomas Springs, and on Cuchillo Creek, 15 miles west of Cuchillo, to about 
5,200 feet. Many fresh eggs were found, May 25, 1916 (Ligon).] On the East Gila 
River they arrived April 1, 1913, and nested abundantly for miles along the cliffs of 
Beaver Creek. At State College they arrived April 4, 1915. The last noted in 
1913, at Mesilla, was on October 1 (Merrill).—W. W. Cooke. 
General Habits. —Near Palomas Springs, in 1913, Mr. Ligon 
found two large colonies of Mexican Cliff Swallows. As he explains, 
“The high steep hill here breaks off abruptly at the river and the 
water has cut into the concrete side leaving a hanging point at two 
places where the birds nest.” Two hundred yards below is another 
colony. “These nests are difficult to get at, as a full river washes the 
bank swiftly, underneath. There were about five hundred birds, which 
had just begun to lay. The nests that contained eggs were old nests, 
some having been slightly repaired. Above these a little way, the 
birds were busy building new nests, getting mud just across the river 
opposite. The nesting material used in addition to the mud was very 
scant, just a few grass blades and mesquite leaves. The nests had 
an average length of seven inches, and the entrance was one and three- 
fourths inches in diameter. The cavity inside was rather large and 
almost round; the entrance to the nest dropped down.” Three years 
later on revisiting the place Mr. Ligon found that “ the upper colony was 
composed of about four hundred and fifty occupied nests extending 
for a distance of a hundred feet.” The colony two hundred yards 
below contained a hundred occupied nests. 
On the Gila Reserve, one mile below V + T Headquarter Ranch on 
June 6, 1913, he found a smaller nesting colony. * 1 There were sixty 
occupied nests in one group,” he reported, “clustered under one pro¬ 
tecting rock about thirty feet up on the side of a canyon. They were 
all old nests, being reoccupied. Above the V + T Ranch, about three 
miles, was another great breeding site. Here also most of the old 
nests were being used, on account, I believe, of a dry summer, there 
being no mud nearer than a mile. For miles up the east Gila and along 
Haut Creek one was hardly out of sight of nesting birds. Many here 
were using old half-wrecked nests, while as many more were building 
new nests” (MS). 
At Silver City, the Beaver Lake Reserve, and the East Fork of the 
Gila, the Mexican Cliff Swallows were noted by Mr. Birdseye. At 
Beaver Lake, in 1908, they had been breeding by hundreds in some 
cliffs near the lake. 
At Mesilla Park, Professor Merrill reports that Cliff Swallows 
(probably the Mexican) come about May 1, nest from June nearly 
through July, begin to gather in huge flocks with the Barn and Bank 
Swallows in early August, and leave with them late in September or early 
in October. They form large colonies and place their jug-like nests in 
