Image from the Biodiversity Heritage Library.
Contributed by Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, University of California, Berkeley.
| www.biodiversitylibrary.org
Transcription
Cliff Swallow
Mayhew
1950
April 27
Poleline Bridge, 3 mi. N.E. of Davis, Yolo Co., Calif.
At 11 AM. one bird fed another in nest 2-4. At
11:02 A.M. one bird returned to nest 2-17 where
another bird had its head out the door. The
returning bird entered the nest & I could
see one of the birds in the act of eating
something, but was unable to tell which
one it was. In about 5 seconds one of
these birds left the nest & the other
sat with its head out the door. At 11:08,
the other bird returned to the nest, climbed
inside & this time I saw both of them
eating something. As soon as the food
was down, one of them stuck its head
out the door again. In a moment it was
out of the nest. At 1-1, a bird had its head out
the door. Another bird landed at the opening,
for some reason the bird inside became
antagonistic. It grabbed the wing of the
other bird in its beak & pushed it off the
opening, so that the bird outside was
hanging in mid-air by its wing in the
other bird's bill. It kicked its feet in
the air, but I no avail. After about 5
seconds the bird inside let go, allowing
the other bird to fly off. There is almost
no activity in section 3 where the great
majority of last year's nests remain. From
here I can see no heads sticking out of
any of the 22 nests that can be seen from
here. When hanging at the opening & the