144 BIRDS OF NEW ENGLAND AND EASTERN NEW YORK 



The notes of the Tree Swallow are generally sharp and 

 high, but occasionally sweet and twittering. jSTear a breed- 

 ing-site the male may be heard singing before dawn, either 

 from the box, or as he flies to and fro in the darkness. 



The pure Avhite under parts distinguish this swallow 

 from both the Barn and Eave Swallows, each of which has 

 a reddish-brown chin. The Bank or Sand Swallow has a 

 brownish band across the upper breast. Young White- 

 bellied Swallows not only lack the steel-blue of the adult, 

 but have a faint brownish collar nearly across the breast ; 

 they must therefore be carefully distinguished from the 

 Bank SwalloAv, which has a broad dark band completely 

 across the breast. The flight of all four swallows may be 

 distinguished after much practice. The White-bellied often 

 hangs in the wind with outspread wings and tail, and back 

 curved like a dolphin. 



Barx Swallow. Hirundo erythrogastra 



6.95 



Ad. — Entire upper parts, except the forehead, deep purplish- 

 blue ; forehead, upper breast, and throat chestnut • sides of throat 

 and upper breast bluish ; lower breast and belly varying from sal- 

 mon to whitish ; outer tail-feathers long and narroiv ; tail, when 

 spread, much spotted with white. Im. — Outer tail-feathers shorter 

 than in adult. 



Nest, made chiefly of mud mixed with straw and lined with 

 feathers, placed commonly against a rafter of an open barn. Eggs, 

 white, speckled with brown and lavender. 



The Barn Swallow is a very common summer resident of 



all Xew York and New England, wher- 

 ever there is any grass-land. It arrives 

 towards the end of April, and leaves 

 early in September. It builds a nest of 

 straw and mud on a rafter of a barn or 

 Fig. 34. Tail of Barn shed, or occasionally on some projection 

 Swallow outside, but not fastened by the side 



