The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1883-06-23
THE BIRDS OF INDIANA.
Written for the Journal by DR.. A. W. Brayton.
The Swallows,

AnOS1 WelCOhe. 1ney are recognized In eV-
cry literature; they are the cherished wit
nesses of peace and plenty in the homestead,
and the dazzling ornaments of the busy
thoroughfare"
Swallows form natural family of about
one hundred species, universally distributed.
NorthsAmerica has seven species-Indiana
SIX. Best known is the purple martin (Progne
suolsl a common summer resident with us,
coming in early April and going in early
September. No American bird is better
known. 1t is found all over North America,
breeding to the arctic circle, and is accidental
in Europe. 1t nests in boxes gourds, and
in the holes made by woodpeckers 1t drives
the bluebird and English sparrow from its
boxes in short order The same pair returns
to the same nest year after year, finding its
old home with unerring precision after mi
| grations of thousands of miles.
luke all swallows, the present species is a
great insect eater, destroying incalculable
| numbers, including many injurious species.
They should be preserved, in the interests of
farmers and fruit-growers, not wantonly de-
| stroyed though a tempting target to the
marksman. Needless taking of any life is a
crime against nature We may well pause
at this, even if no spark of sentiment should
| kindle Indignation at the thought of cutting
short such useful, bright and joyous life.
Things both useful and beautiful are not SO
| common that we can afford to sacrifice them
in vain. The rowdy boys and all the crew OF
tramps and potters of the gun who shoot
swallows for sport may be seriously admon-
ished that these birds are worth more to So
| ciety than their idle, vicious selves DIR.
| Coues.
The story of Procne, whose sister Philo-
mela was violated by Procnes husband, the
King OF Thrace, is variously told by mytho-
| logical authorities. At any rate, they agree
that Procne, in revenge, slew her son Itys,
and in revenge served up his flesh in a nice
stew to his father. The sisters, pursued by
| the King, were changed into birds, Philo-
mela becoming the nightingale and Procne
| the swallow.
This legend is, doubtless, like many others,
invented to account mythically for the
habits of the bird to which it is applied. The
twitter of the swallow sounds like itys, itys,
and the note of the nightingale was regarded
as sufficiently lugubrious to represent the
disgraced and tongueless Philomela
Next is the barn swallow (Hirundo
erythrogoster, literally the red-bellied swal-
low) This swallow has a deeply-forked,
blue above and chestnut below,
with chestnut throat and forehead.
The name of the barn swallow is household
word. Said Wilson: 1.-THE light of heaven
| ITSELF the sky or trees are not better known.
| 1t breeds in colonies under the barn caves,
making its adobe nest of mud and hay with
feather coating inside. By the side of the
nest there is often built a platform for the
parents of the growing brood to roost upon.
! This swallow is the typical granger himself,
| dealing in the raw earth, with the odor
of the barn about him, and 'hayseed in his
hair This species can fly mile minute
| for ten hours a day. What shall we say of
his matchless wings, that bring him every
summer? Before his pinons distance vanishes.
| The swallow breakfasts in South America,
and takes his noon lunch in Indiana. If
| one of them cannot make summer, there
can be, nevertheless, no summer without
| them. Mans utmost dream of freedom
| clothes him with wings with which he may
bask upon the summer clouds? o, that we
had the wings of a dove, or even of a swal-
| low, that we might look down upon the
rolling world and get birdseye view of our
sluggish life."
The white bellieds wallow (Tachycieneta
bicolorl, is lustrous green above, with pure
white below; the female, as with the purple
martin, is duller in color. The tail is not
deeply forked, it is only notched. This spe-
cies is common about water; it nests in holes
i'll trees and stumps, rarely in boxes. 1t does
not build with mud. OF this swallow DIR.
Coues says; "The pretty white-belled swal-
| low in dress of snowy vest and literal swal-
| low-tail, has been known to accomplish a
transatlantic voyage successfully and reach
the shores of the old world, only to be cap
| tured and made paragraph Of"
The cliff swallow or eave-swallow Pc
tracheldon lunifrous( is lustrous steel
blue, with forehead, sides of head throat and
rump of various shades of chestnut. The
sexes are similar in color. This is an abund-
ant migrant and resident formerly nesting
in cliffs, but now under caves of barns and
dwellings. The adobe nest is cup or
even retort shape, with an elongated
neck. These swallows take to the caves
for protection; it is the natural instinct to
come in out of the wet. Their bottle-nosed
nests, unless the enfant terrible or the man
with the long pole appears, usually decant a
full brood of swollows, and, continues Dr.
Couses, 81 wish nothing more harmful ever
came out of the bottle"
The rough-winged swallow is quaker
gray bird that is found about our river
banks, nesting in holes in the banks and
skimning the surface of the water in search
of insects. Like all except the bank swal-
low, which still retains the primitive habits
of the family, this species makes use of holes
in masonry for its nests thus paying it's COM
pliment to human civilization.
1t takes its formidable scientific name
(Stelgidapteryx serri pennis) as also its COM
mon name from the saw-like wings formed
by a series of minute recurved hooks on the
outer web of the first wing-feather. This is
a curious swallow and not we'll known one
to many except collectors and naturalists.
Last, but not least, is our bank swallow
(Cotyle riparia( dark gray swallow, not
irridescent; it is white below, and with a
brown shade across the breast. 1t is a cos
mopolite, found in Europe, Asia, Africa and
America. 1t is an abundant summer resi-
dent, nesting in holes in sand banks
The so-called chimney swallow" resembles
the swallows proper in its form and mode of
flight its insect food and twittering notes;
like the swallows it has forsaken the ways of
its ancestors, and instead of the hollow trees,
builds its open-work nest, or rather shelf for
its eggs-for it is little more-of bits of twig
snatched off in rapid flight, and glued to-
gether inside disused chimneys. To secrete
this glue, the saliVary glands are highly de-
! rolAlAad In the tirn IL