February, 1892.] 



AND OOLOGIST. 



23 



Habits and Nesting of the Violet- 

 green Swallow. 



The Violet-green Swallow (Tachycineta 

 thalassina) is the first of the family Ilirun- 

 dinidce, to arrive here (which is in the first 

 week in March), and no sooner have they 

 come than they can be heard chattering 

 about the windows, k»oking for a suitable 

 place for nest building. 



We note the Tree or White-bellied Swallow 

 next, and then comes the Cliff and Rough- 

 winged. The Violet-green, however, is the 

 handsomest bird of the lot, being of . the 

 color the name indicates on its back with a 

 contrast of pure white on the under parts. 



I have often watched them circling around, 

 higii up in the air for an hour at a time, their 

 actions being so graceful one does not tire of 

 watching them. 



Xest building begins about the 15th of 

 May, and fresh eggs may be procured from 

 the first to the latter part of .Tune. They are 

 pure white in color, rather pointed at the 

 smaller end, averaging .74x..52. Five eggs 

 seem to be the full complement, but I have 

 taken as many as seven in one set. 



The nest of T. thalassina is a very bulky 

 affair, being rather loosely built. It is com- 

 posed of straws, strings, etc., and thickly 

 lined with feathers. Boxes put up for the 

 purpose are quite often used for breeding in, 

 and if several are put up close together the 

 birds will nest in another box after the first 

 set has been taken, and sometimes return to 

 the first box should the second set be col- 

 lected, but never have I recorded the fact of 

 a pair nesting in the same box twice in succes- 

 sion when the first set was taken. 



A peculiar incident took place the past 

 season. A pair of Violet-greens were nesting 

 in a hole in a barn and not more than seventy- 

 five feet from there was a gourd on a high 

 pole; this was occupied by a pair of Park- 

 man's Wrens. It happened that the sets of 

 both species were complete at the same time 

 and upon taking them the birds changed 

 homes when second sets were laid. UiJon 

 these being taken they again traded homes. 



In case the Violet-green should nest in trees, 

 as in days gone by, the difference between it 

 and the Tree Swallow to a general observer 

 might not be noticed, but to one who has 

 made it a study the chief difference will be in 

 their length, the Violet-green being much 

 shorter. Another point worth mentioning is 



their eyes. While the eyes of the Tree Swal- 

 low are in the dark feathers they are in the 

 white ones with the Violet-greens, and the 

 white feathers near the lower tail coverts 

 show from the back of the bird when it 

 alights on the opening of its nest. 



Although the Violet-green Swallow used to 

 nest in natural cavities in trees, of late years 

 it has changed its nesting place to bird 

 boxes, knot holes in dwellings, etc., and 

 could I look into the future I would not be 

 surprised to see the White-bellied Swallow 

 nest in such places near habitation preferable 

 to the trees, though it is found breeding near 

 water at the present day. Clyde L. Keller. 



Salein, Oref^on. 



Megantic Fish and Game Club. 



[From Shooting and Fishing, Boston.] 



The fifth annual dinner of the Megantic Fish 

 and Game Club was held at the Hotel Bruns- 

 wick, Boston, on the evening of Jan. 28th. 

 The occasion was one long to be remembered 

 by those participating in the festivities. The 

 hour for the dinner was set at 6 o'clock, and 

 for an hour i^revious a reception was held, 

 which gave the club members and the guests 

 an opportunity to greet each other and be- 

 come well acquainted. Thei'« were many 

 gentlemen present who were well known to the 

 readers of sportsmen's papers. Among the 

 guests were: Col. Elliott B. Hodge, of the 

 Xew Hampshire Fish and Game Commis- 

 sion, with his genial face and courtly bearing; 

 Gen. Douglas Frazer, who writes so fascinat- 

 ingly of his adventures with gun and rod in 

 many lands, a veteran in years and experience, 

 but buoyant and as full of enthusiasm as a 

 tyro; Hon. Frank B. Currier, naval officer. 

 Port of Boston, who tells his experience in 

 fishing so fascinatingly as to make those who 

 never could see much sport in handling the 

 rod think they have lost an immense amount 

 of sport. 



I observe a medium-sized gentleman chat- 

 ting with a group of attentive listeners. He 

 has curly gray hair, and his frosty beard indi- 

 cating him as belonging to the class of vet- 

 erans. Why, that is my old friend, Walter 

 M. Brackett, sportsman and artist, with a 

 world-wide reputation. If you have never 

 seen one of Mr. Brackett' s salmon pictures 

 you have not seen the king of fishes portrayed 

 by one of the sovereign painters of fish. 



The halls became crowded by six o'clock, 

 and while tarrying on the outskirts I came face 



