90 



BIRDS OF AMERICA 



ear region, entire under parts, and conspicuous patch on 

 each side of rump pure white; under wing-coverts pale 

 gray, becoming white on edge of wing; iris, brown. 

 Adult Female: Afuch duller in color than the male; 

 crown and hindneck, varying from grayish-brown, very 

 faintly glossed with bronze or bronzy-green, to decided 

 greenish or purplish-bronze ; ear region otherwise, 

 similar to the adult male. 



Nest and Eggs. — Nest : In knot holes, deserted 



Woodpecker holes, hollow trees, or beneath house 

 eaves ; constructed of dried grass, lined with feathers. 

 Eggs : 4 or 5. pure white. 



Distribution. — Western North America : north to 

 Alaska, east to Montana, Wyoming. Colorado, New 

 Me.xico, and western Texas — occasionally to South 

 Dakota; breeding southward to southern California, 

 .Arizona, and New Mexico; in winter south to high- 

 lands of Guatemala and Costa Rica. 



In Oregon, by the first week in March the first 

 Violet-green, or White-breasted, Swallows have 

 returned to their siirnmer homes. For several 

 years, I have watched the Violet-green Swal- 

 lows return to my bird houses. There is no 

 doubt in my mind that the same birds return to 

 the same places year after year. I have known 

 this on account of peculiarities of birds, their 

 methods of building and the places they have 

 built. 



What a sense of location the Swallow has ; for 

 his journey from the south leads him through 

 trackless paths of the unmeasured regions of the 

 skies, yet he has some compass and sign posts 

 that seem to guide him. T have often wondered 

 how, from his lofty course, he knows just when 

 he gets back to his old home. I have often 



wondered where he spends the night. If it 

 rains, he will disappear for a week as suddenly 

 as he caiue. But the minute another bright day 

 dawns, I know he will be down around my 

 orchard and he will remain till the summer is 

 past. No wonder people used to think the Swal- 

 lows dived into the mud to spend the winter ; 

 they appear so suddenly and are away again so 

 mysteriously. 



One thing that is necessary to a Violet-green's 

 nest is a bed of feathers. These are always 

 handier to get about the farm yard. I generally 

 keep a good supply of these on hand when the 

 Swallows are nesting. Wlien I stand on the 

 hillside and blow up the feathers, they ask for 

 nothing better. The Swallows skim past and 

 catch them before they touch the ground. When 

 the feathers begin to appear, it isn't many mo- 

 ments till half a dozen Swallows are in the game. 

 They flit back and forth and soon become tame 

 enough to take the feathers the instant they 

 leave my hand. Then occasionally, I have had 

 a bird that was bold enough to snap a feather 

 from my fingers. 



In the western part of Oregon, the Violet- 

 green .Swallow formerly nested in old Wood- 

 pecker holes and crevices in stumps, or a knot- 

 hole in the corner of a building. It is now one 



Photo by W. L. Finley and H. T. Bohlman 



NORTHERN VIOLET-GREEN SWALLOW 



(nat. sizet 



