LAND BIRDS. 541 



to what is true of the Robin and some other birds cool wet weather seems to 

 discourage singing and often on those sultry summer mornings which 

 betoken the hottest days its song in full richness may be heard, though 

 most of the other birds be silenced" (Auk, I, 326). 



This bird combines the food habits of flycatcher and finch, for it eats 

 immense quantities of insects, many of which are captured on the wing, 

 while it also eats seeds freely and is very fond of wild berries and small 

 fruits, though we have never heard any complaint of injury to cultivated 

 fruit. Most of its food is obtained from the trees, and it is rarely seen on 

 the ground except when getting nesting material. Professor Aughey 

 records the capture of a Scarlet Tanager, in Nebraska in 1874, ''which had 

 37 locusts in its craw and nothing else that I could identify." 



TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. 



Cutting edge of upper mandible with a tooth-like projection near middle. Adult male 

 in sunnner: Entire head and body, above and below, bright blood red, the feathers 

 whitish beneath the surface; wings and tail clear deep black, without light markings of any- 

 kind; bill greenish-black; iris brown. Adult female in summer: Upper parts plain olive- 

 green; under parts greenish yellow, brightest on throat and under tail-coverts, duller on 

 breast and sides; wings and tail plain dark gray or dusky, most of the feathers shaded on 

 the exposed edges with olive-green; bill greenish or dusky; iris brown. In autumn the 

 male resembles the female in the body color, but retains "the black wings and tail of the 

 breeding season, althougli many of the wing and tail-feathers are narrowly edged with 

 gray or greenish. The adult female is essentially the same in fall as in summer, and the 

 young in autumn resemble the adult female, but just after leaving the nest they are streaked 

 with dusky on the under parts. 



Length 6.50 to 7. .50 inches; wing 3.55 to 3.90; tail 2.80 to 3.25; culmen .55 to .60. 



Family 58. HIRUNDINID/E. Swallows. 

 Six s[)ecies occur in Michigan, separable as follows: 



KEY TO SPECIES. 



A. Large, wing over 5^ inches. — Purple Martin. No. 245. 

 AA. Smaller, wing less than 5 inches. B, BB. 



B. Tail deeply forked, some of the tail-feathers with large round white 



spots. Barn Swallow. No. 247. 

 BB. Tail slightly forked or nearly emarginate, its feathers without 

 white spots. C, CC. 

 C. Forehead cream-white, rump chestnut or rufous. Cliff Swallow. 



No. 246. 

 CC. Forehead not cream-white, rump not rufous. D, DD. 



D. Upper parts metallic blue-green, under parts snow white. 



Tree Swallow. No. 248. 

 DD. Upper parts brownish-gray, not metallic, under parts 

 not all white. E, EE. 

 E. Throat and belly pure white, a brownish gray band 

 across the chest, edge of first primary smooth. 

 Bank Swallow, No. 249. 

 EE. Throat and breast uniform light brownish gray, only 

 belly and under tail-coverts pure white; edge 

 of first primary rough. Rough-winged Swallow. 

 No. 250. 

 (Note.— The so-called Chimney Swallow is not a swallow but a swift. 

 See page 381.) 



