BIRDS OF KANSAS. ■ 505 



Sp. Char. "Tail very deeply forked; outer feathers several inches longer 

 tlian the iuner, very narrow towards the end. Above, glossy blue, with concealed 

 white in the middle of the back. Throat chestnut; rest of lower parts reddish 

 white, not conspicuously different. A steel blue collar on the upper part of the 

 breast, interrupted in the middle. Tail feathers with a white spot near the 

 middle on the inner web. Female with the outer tail feathers not quite so long. 

 In the young birds, the frontal chestnut band is smaller and less distinct." 



Iris dark brown; bill, legs, feet and claws black. 



These handsome Swallows excel in easy and graceful move- 

 ments, in the air, all others of the family, and thej are, I think, 

 the swiftest flyers among the birds. They are more evenly dis- 

 tributed during tlie breeding season than the Cliff Swallows, as 

 the mated pairs often nest alone, and never in very large com- 

 munities. They are social birds, and, while mated, strongly at- 

 tached to each other, the male often feeding his mate as she 

 patiently and lovingly sits upon her treasures, and he also as- 

 sists in rearing the young. Tlieir song is but a succession of 

 sharp, squeaky, warbling twitterings, at times quite animated and 

 pleasing; their call note a simple twit. 



Their nests are attached to the sides of rafters in barns and 

 suitable places in outbuildings, under bridges etc., and, in the 

 unsettled portions of the country, under overhanging rocks and 

 in the fissures or cavern-like cavities. A semi-cup-sliaped struct- 

 ure, rather roughly constructed of layers of mud and grasses, 

 and lined with the finer grasses and feathers. Eggs three to 

 six (usually four), .T7x.55; pure translucent white, spotted and 

 blotched with purple and varying shades of dark reddish brown, 

 and, occasionally, lilac stains, usually aggregating thickest about 

 the larger end; in form, oval. 



Genus TACHYCINETA Cabanis. 

 "Nostrils lateral, overhung or bordered internally by incumbent membrane. 

 Tarsi with the tibial joint covered by overhanging feathers, adherent a short 

 distance along inner face, about equal to middle toe without claw. Lateral toes 

 equal. Adhesion of basal joint of middle toe variable. Tail emarginate only, 

 or slightly forked; fork not exceeding half an inch in depth. Color blue or 

 green above, with or without metallic gloss; with or without white rump. En- 

 tirely white beneath." 



