620 Field Museum of Natural History — Zoology, Vol. IX. 



Genus HIRUNDO Linn. 



284. Hirundo erythrogastra Bodd. 

 Barn Swallow. 



Chelidon erythrogastra (Bodd.), A. (J. U. Check List, 1895, p. 258. 



Distr.: Whole of North America, north to Ungava, Hudson Bay 

 and Alaska, breeding throughout its North American range and in 

 northern Mexico; south in winter throughout Central America, the 

 West Indies, and a considerable portion of South America. 



Adult male: Tail, much forked; upper plumage, lustrous dark 

 steel-blue; forehead and throat, rufous chestnut; rest of under parts, 



Barn Swallow. 



pale brown or buffy brown, varying in intensity; outer tail feathers, 

 much elongated; tail, fuscous, tinged with blue, all but the central 

 feathers with broad white spot on inner web. 



Adult female: Similar, but duller. 



Immature birds have the tail less forked, the outer tail feathers 

 less elongated, the general plumage duller, and the upper parts 

 tinged with browm. 



Length, 6 to 7.10 (varying according to length of tail); wing, 

 4.50 to 510; tail, 2.75 to 4.50; bill, .30. 



The Barn Swallow is a common summer resident in Illinois and 

 Wisconsin, from May until September, breeding throughout both states. 



The nest is cup-shaped, composed of mud .and straw and lined 

 with feathers. It is usually built on rafters of barns, or when away 

 from buildings, attached to side or in crevices of a cliff or in caves. 

 The eg£;s are 3 to 5, white, spotted with various shades of brown and 

 often pale lilac, and measure about .78 x .54 inches. 



