456 BULLETIN 179, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



gathered on telegraph wires, resting on their journey, or sometimes 

 we see them in actual migration — a few birds, inconspicuous, wide 

 apart and silent, flying past on their way to the south. I know a 

 little valley, 10 miles from the sea, drained by a narrow brook, which 

 must lie directly in the swallows' path of migration, for if I spend 

 half an hour there early in September and watch the sky to the north, 

 I am almost sure to see a barn swallow coming toward me. It cruises 

 along at the height of a tall tree, veering sometimes far to one side 

 or the other, but holding, in the main, a straight course, following the 

 dip of the land. Sometimes it is a lone bird, but sometimes before 

 it is out of sight, mounting up over the hill at the southern end of 

 the valley, a second or a third bird will appear out of the north and 

 follow, far behind, on the same invisible track. These are the last 

 barn swallows of the year. We shall see no more until, in early 

 May, they come jubilantly back to the farmlands." 



DISTRIBUTION 



Range. — North and South America. 



Breeding 7'ange. — The breeding range of the barn swallow extends 

 north to Alaska (Port Clarence, Cape Blossom, Kobuk River, and 

 Circle) ; Mackenzie (Fort Goodhope, Fort Franklin, Lake Fabre, 

 and Hill Island Lake) ; southern Saskatchewan (Wiseton and Quill 

 Lake) ; southern Manitoba (Lake St. Martin) ; Ontario (Kenora 

 District, Port Arthur, Chapleau, and Cobalt) ; southern Quebec 

 (Quebec City and Godbout) ; and rarely southern Labrador (North- 

 west River). East to rarely Labrador (Northwest River); Nova 

 Scotia (Baddeck, Halifax, and Seal Island) ; and south along the 

 Atlantic coast to North Carolina (Bodie Island, Pea Island, and 

 Wilmington Beach). South to North Carolina (Wilmington Beach 

 and Valle Crucis) ; Tennessee (Athens and Bell Buckle) ; northwest- 

 ern Alabama (Tuscambia) ; Arkansas (Clinton and Clear Creek) ; 

 Oklahoma (Redland, Norman, and Wichita Forest) ; southern Texas 

 (Del Rio) ; Veracruz (Las Yigas and Perote) ; Puebla (Huamantla 

 and Atlixco) ; Michoacan (Patzcuaro) ; and southern Jalisco (Tux- 

 pan). West to Jalisco (Tuxpan, Guadalajara, and Etzatlan) ; Naya- 

 rit (Santiago) ; Durango (El Salto) ; northwestern Baja California 

 (San Quintin and Los Coronados Islands) ; and north along the 

 Pacific coast to Alaska (St. Lazaria Island, English Bay, Bethel, St. 

 Michael, and Port Clarence). 



Winter range. — The winter range of the barn swallow is not thor- 

 oughly defined, but it appears certain that any records for this 

 season north of South America must be considered as accidental. 

 During January and February 1893, Dr. E, W. Nelson noted indi- 

 viduals of this species at Mexico City and at two or three points in 



