OBSERVED IN WESTERN IOWA. 495 



seen on our journeys for long intervals. In some sections persons who had resided there 

 for years claimed never to have seen them. 



22. Petrochelidon lunifrons Bd. (Hiriindo lunifrons Say.) Cliff Swallow. Often seen flying 

 about over the prairies. The older settlers in Dallas County told me it made its first ap- 

 pearance there three years before, when a colony settled in Redfield, nesting under the 

 eaves of a large sandstone store. This season there were several large colonies in the same 

 vicinity, resorting to the eaves of barns for nesting sites. 



23. Tachycineta bicolor Cab. (Hirundo bicohr Vieill.) White-bellied Swallow. Seen a 

 few times, chiefly towards autumn, flying over the prairies; on several occasions they 

 occurred in great numbers. 



24. Progne subis Bd. (_P. purpurea Boie.) Purple Martin. Everywhere common ; one of 

 the most abundant of the Hirundines in the breeding season. Said to have been as com- 

 mon when the country was first settled as now. It is a universal favorite, and about almost 

 every house boxes are provided for their accommodation, which they readily occupy as 

 nesting-places in preference to the hollow trees of the woodlands. 



25. Cotyle riparia Boie. Bank Swallow. Common. 



VlREONIDiE. 



26. Vireosylvia gilva Bon. Warbling Vireo. Observed occasionally in the timber, but not 

 common. No other species of Vireo noticed, though doubtless several others occur. 



AmPELIDjE. 



27. Ampelis cedrorum Bd. Cedar Bird. Not very unfrequent. 



Laniid^e. 



28. Collurio ludovirianus Bd. Loggerhead Shrike. Not common. Observed but a few times.. 



TANAGRID.E. 



29. Pyranga rubra Vieill. Scarlet Tanager. Quite common in the timber skirting the 

 rivers, particularly about Boonesboro. 



Fringillid^e. 



30. Chrysomitris tristis Bon. Yellow Bird. Rather frequent. 



31. Passerculus savanna Bon. Savannah Sparrow. Rather common on the moister parts 

 of the prairies, and about the grassy ponds or " sloughs." 



32. Pooccetes gramineus Bd. Grass Finch. Now and then seen on the prairies, but not ap- 

 parently abundant. 



33. Coturniculus jmsserinus Bon. Yellow-winged Sparrow. Common. One of the few 

 birds seen far from cultivation when crossing wide stretches of prairie. 



34. Columictdus Henslowi Bon. Henslow's Sparrow. Less common than the preceding, 

 frequenting the same situations. 



35. Chondestes grammaca Bon. Lark Finch. Not abundant, yet at times rather fre- 

 quently met with. A true prairie bird, as often seen far out on the wild prairie as else- 

 where. 



36. Spisella pnsiUa Bon. Wood Sparrow. Not common. Observed about thickets at the 

 edges of the prairies. 



