PEKCHINC; Hlin)S 

 this typical nest down to plain mud platforms, 

 but are all warmly lined with grass and 

 feathers. Tn some localities, cliffs resemble 

 bee hives, they having thousands of these nests 

 side by side and in tiers. Their eggs are 

 creamy white spotted with reddish brown; 

 size .80 X .55 with great variations. Data. — 

 Rockford, Minn., June 12, 1890. Nest made 

 of mud, lined with feathers; placed under the 

 eaves of a freight house. 



[612.1.] CuKAN Cliff Swallow. Pclro- 

 chelidon fidva. 



Range. — West Indies and Central America ; 

 accidental on Florida Keys. 



6l3. Barn Swallow. Hirundo eri/tliro- 



gastra. 



Range. — Whole of North America; winters 

 south to South America. 



This Swallow is the most beautiful and grace- 

 ful of the family, and is a familiar sight to everyone, skimming over the mead- 

 ows and ponds in long graceful sweeps, curves and turns, its lengthened outer 

 tail feathers streaming behind. Throughout their range, they nest in barns, 

 sheds or any building where they will not be often disturbed, making their nests 

 of mud and attaching them to the rafters; they are warmly lined with feathers 

 and the outside is rough, caused by the pellets which they place on the exterior. 



Before tlie advent of civil- 

 ized man, they attached their ^^ 

 nests to the sides of caves, j^'". . 

 in crevices among rocks and ''%^ ^ . ^\ 

 in hollow trees, as they do 

 now in some localities. Their 

 eggs cannot be distinguished 

 from those of the Cliff Swal- White 



low. Data. — Penikese Is., Mass., July 2, 1900. 

 Nest on beam in sheep shed; made of pellets of 

 mud, lined with feathers. 



Barn Swallow 



()14'. Tree Swallow; White-bellied Swal 

 LOW. Iridoprocne bicolor. 



Range. — Whole of temperate North America, 

 breeding from middle United States northward; 

 winters in the Gulf States and along the Mexi- 

 can border and southward. 



This vivacious and active species is as well 

 known as the last, and nests about Iiabitations 

 'I'ree Swallow on the outskirts of cities and in tlie country. 



373 



