Upper parts dusty brown, darker on the wings, and tail forked a little, like the Tree Swallow's. Under parts white, with a brown band across the breast. Song a sort of giggle--like some little girl's we know. Nests many together in holes in a clay or loamy bank, lined with feathers and straw. Eggs pure white. A Citizen of most parts of the world--northerly in summer, southerly in winter. A Sky Sweeper [Illustration: Bank Swallow.] "Bankey is a sociable, useful little bird, living usually in great colonies. I have seen a hundred of their holes in a single bank, all dug by these industrious little Swallows with no other tools than their feeble beaks and claws. When the young from these nests are learning to fly the old birds are darting to and fro all day long to teach them how to use their wings, and the bank seems like a bustling village; every bird has something to do and say, and they always try to do both at once. If any one asks you why House People should love and protect Swallows, even if you have forgotten the names of many of the insects they destroy, remember to answer--'Swallows eat mosquitoes!'" CHAPTER XV A BRILLIANT PAIR THE SCARLET TANAGER "That is my beautiful red bird!" cried Dodo, clapping her hands. "I never shall forget the looks of his bright red coat with black sleeves and tails. I saw a sort of green bird in the same tree, but it was so different I never thought it could be his wife, till I came to think--for the green one stayed near the nest when I came nearer and looked up, but the red bird flew away and hid behind some leaves." [Illustration: Scarlet Tanager] "You are quite lucky to have seen a Scarlet Tanager in his home woods," said the Doctor, "for he is a shy bird who does not often venture to show his tropical colors in open places. He knows enough not to make himself a target for cannibal birds or House People either. Except in his journeys to and from his winter home he lives in the shelter of the tallest forest trees, where it is very difficult to see him, showy as he is in his flashing colors, and even if you know by his song that he is there. He may say, as some people think he does, 'Pshaw! wait--wait--wait for me, wait!' but he does not wait a moment if he thinks he is seen. "He is very fond of water, both for bathing and drinking, and seldom nests far from it. Whether he uses the quiet ponds and smooth streams also for a looking-glass to comb his hair and arrange his gay coat by, we cannot be sure, but he always looks as trig as if he had some such aid. "The Tanager children are curious things. Sometimes they wear coats of many colors, like Joseph's." "Why is that?" asked Nat. "The reason is this. You remember I told you that young birds usually wear plain feathers like their mothers?" "Oh, yes," said Rap; "so that it is hard to see them until they have sense enough to take care of themselves."