BIRDS OF KANSAS. 5o3 



B. 326. \\. 153. C. 1G3. G. 76, 3.54. U. 612. 



Habitat. North America at large, and south to Brazil and 

 Paraguay; breeding (in suitable localities south to Mazatlan, 

 Mexico. Graijson) northward into the Arctic circle. 



Sp. Char. " Top of head glossy black, with greenish Ulster; back and scapu- 

 lars similar, but rather duller, and sometimes streaked by the appearance of 

 white sides of the feathers — the bases of the feathers, however, being plumbe- 

 ous; chin, throat and sides of head chestnut brown, this extending round on 

 the nape as a distinct continuous collar, which Is bounded posteriorly by dull 

 grayish; the chestnut darkest on the chin, with a rich purplish tinge. Rump 

 above on sides pale chestnut (sometimes fading into whitish); upper tail coverts 

 grayish brown, edged with paler, lighter than the plain brown of the wings and 

 tail; forehead, for the length of the bill, creamy white, somewhat luuate, or ex- 

 tending, in an acute angle, a little over the eye; a very narrow blackish frontlet; 

 loral region dusky to the bill; a patch of glossy black in the lower part of the 

 breast, and a few black feathers in the extreme chin, the latter sometimes scarcely 

 appreciable; under parts dull white, tinged with reddish gray on the sides and 

 inside of the wings; feathers of crissum brownish gray, edged with whitish, with 

 a tinge of rufous anteriorly (sometimes almost inappreciable). 



"There is no difference between the sexes, but the young bird is very differ- 

 ent from the adult in the following particulars: The steel blue above is replaced 

 by a lusterless dusky bi'own, the feathers (except on head) being margined with 

 a creamy tint; the neck merely tinged with rufous; the throat has only a dusky 

 suffusion, and the chin is much mixed with white; the frontal patch is obsolete." 



The females are fully as large as the males. 



Iris dark brown; bill and claws black; legs dark reddish brown; 

 feet dark brown. 



These birds, of such wide and extended range, are, during 

 the breeding season, only local in their distribution, forming 

 colonies here and there. They are quite common in the eastern 

 part of the continent, and abundant westward, especially on the 

 plateaus and in mountainous regions. 



In the settled portions they select for their nesting places the 

 vertical banks and overhanging cliffs along the streams, or in 

 the near vicinity of water. Within the settlements they prefer 

 the habitations of man, and build their nests under the project- 

 ing eaves of buildings etc. ; the barn the favorite. A happy 

 community, apparently without family jars, or quarrels with their 

 neighbors. Like all the Swallow family, they are birds of the 



