INTRODUCTION 



This is the fifteenth in a series of bulletins of tlie United States 

 National Museum on the life histories of North American birds. Previ- 

 ous numbers have been issued as follows : 



107. Life Histories of North American Diving Birds, August 1, 1919. 



113. Life Histories of North American Gulls and Terns, August 21 , 1921. 



121. Life Histories of North American Petrels and Pelicans and Their Allies, 



October 19, 1922. 

 126. Life Histories of North American Wild Fowl (part), May 25, 1923. 

 130. Life Histories of North American Wild Fowl (part), June 21, 1925. 

 135. Life Histories of North American Marsh Birds, March 11, 1927. 

 142. Life Histories of North American Shore Birds (pt. 1), December 31, 1927. 

 146. Life Histories of North American Shore Birds (pt. 2), March 24, 1929. 

 162. Life Histories of North American Gallinaceous Birds, May 25, 1932. 

 167. Life Histories of North American Birds of Prey (pt. 1), May 3, 1937. 

 170. Life Histories of North American Birds of Prey (pt. 2), August 8, 1938. 

 174. Life Histories of North American Woodpeckers, May 23, 1939. 

 176. Life Histories of North American Cuckoos, Goatsuckers, Hummingbirds, and 



Their Allies, July 20, 1940. 

 179. Life Histories of North American Flycatchers, Larks, Swallows and Their 

 Allies, May 8, 1942. 



The same general plan has been followed, as explained in previous 

 bulletins, and the same sources of information have been utilized. The 

 nomenclature of the 1931 check-list of tlie American Ornithologists' 

 Union and supplements has been followed. 



An attempt has been made to give as full a life history as possible 

 of the best-known subspecies of each species and to avoid duplication 

 by writing briefly of the others and giving only the characters of the 

 subspecies, its range, and any habits peculiar to it. In many cases 

 certain habits, probably common to the species as a whole, have been 

 recorded for only one subspecies. Such habits are mentioned under the 

 subspecies on which the observations were made. The distribution 

 gives the range of the species as a whole, with only rough outlines of 

 the ranges of the subspecies, which in many cases cannot be accurately 

 defined. 



The tg'g dates are the condensed results of a mass of records taken 

 from the data in a large number of the best tgg collections in the 

 country, as well as from contributed field notes and from a few pub- 

 lished sources. They indicate the dates on which eggs have been 

 actually found in various parts of the country, showing the earliest 

 and latest dates and the limits between which half the dates fall, in- 

 dicating the height of the season. 



