S2 



BIRDS OF AMERICA 



l)ird, and in North Carolina and Virginia it may 

 be seen in many of the towns where shade trees 

 and orchards are plentiful. 



To distinf^uish it from the Cardinal, which is 

 seen in winter quite as often as in summer, and 

 is often called " Winter Redbird," this species 

 is known to many southerners as " Summer Red- 

 bird." The nest is built well out on the horizontal 

 limb of some deciduous tree, usually at a height 

 of about fifteen feet. Often the spot chosen is 

 directl}- over a path or some woodland road. 



The bird has a pleasing song. Its usual call- 

 note is loud- and clear and somewhat resembles 

 the words ivhich-a-too. T. Gilbert Pe.\rson. 



Because of his habit of eating honeybees, the 

 Summer Tanager has been given the name of- Bee 

 Bird. Otherwise his food of insects and fruits 

 is of such a character as to be helpful to those 

 who depend in any way upon forest products. 

 In the early summer many large beetles and 

 wasps besides the bees are eaten by him and his 

 family. Later he feeds chiefly on blueberries and 

 other small fruits. 



In the southwestern part of the United States 

 we find Cooper's Tanager or Western Summer 

 Tanager (Piraiiga rubra cooperi). It is larger 

 and paler than its eastern congener. It is es- 

 pecially fond of the cotton woods. 



SWALLOWS 



Order Passcrcs : suborder Oscincs: family Hirundinidcc 



WALLOWS constitute perhaps the best defined group among the singing 

 birds, and are characterized by their very short, flat, triangular bills, large 

 mouths, extremely long wings reaching when closed to or beyond the end of 

 the tail, and short legs and weak feet (fitted only for perching). Their tails 

 are never rounded nor graduated but are always notched or forked ; there are 

 always twelve feathers in the tail, the outside two sometimes being very 

 much longer than the others. 



The plumage of the Swallows is compact, usually lustrous or semi- 

 metallic, at least on the upper parts; sometimes it is dull-colored throughout. 

 They molt but once a year, usually in the fall or winter. 



The family is cosmopolitati and there are over one hundred recognized 

 species throughout the world. The warmer countries have the largest number; America 

 is credited with thirty-one species, all but one of which are peculiar to the western hemisphere. 

 Most migrating birds " fly by night, and feed by day," but the Swallows, as far as known, 

 travel only in the day-time. At night they stop at roosting places used with such regularity 

 as to be known as migration stations. Sometimes these places of rest are in trees but generally 

 they are in marshes. They travel very slowly and whenever they come to a large body of 

 water rather than fly across it they will go around it. 



The Swallows are decidedly birds of the air, capturing insects and eating them while 

 on the wing. Most of their time is thus passed in flying, and this probably accounts for the 

 extraordinary development of their wings. 



PURPLE MARTIN 

 Progne subis subis ( Linnwus) 



A. O. U. Number 6ii See Color ['late 88 



Other Names. — Martin: Black Martin; House 

 Martin. 



General Description. — Length, 8 inches. Plumage, 

 steel-blue. Bill, sto.ut ; tail, about Yi length of wing, 

 forked for about ' .i of its length. 



Color. — Adult Male: Uniform glossy stccl-hlue; 

 lesser and middle wing-coverts glossy dark; rest of 

 wings, and tail, dull black, or sooty-black ; iris, brown. 

 ."Xdult Female: Above, much duller and less uniform 

 steel-blue than in adult male ; forehead, sooty-gray ; 



