Tree Swallow. 289 



in the vicinity of the rivers and adjoining swamp-lakes 

 are annually flooded by the high water, and the trees 

 thereafter indicate the height of the annual rise by the 

 circles and the faded color of their bases. In many places 

 we find whole areas of old forest where the trees have 

 been killed by the regular overflow. Some of these areas 

 contain only rotten stubs, long ago denuded of their bark, 

 the decaying wood harboring myriads of insects and 

 larvae, which attract woodpeckers and other insectivorous 

 birds. On all sides the tapping of the feathered foragers 

 may be heard, but among the dead stubs we find repre- 

 sentatives of two species which are more interesting to us 

 because we seldom meet them elsewhere. 



TKEE SWALLOW. 



Above the surface of the rivers and swamp-lakes there 

 skims through the livelong day the graceful and hand- 

 some tree swallow. Frequently in its swift progress it 

 darts downward to the surface of the water, and even dips 

 into it with a gentle splash when some floating tidbit al- 

 lures it, precisely as the farm boys have seen the familiar 

 barn swallow do in its doublings to and fro above the 

 ponds. Indeed, in its movements, the tree swallow might 

 be mistaken for the barn swallow; but as it turns sharply 

 to right or left, or passes low above our heads, we notice 

 the marks which distinguish it from its relative. We re- 

 mark the pure white of its under parts, and the glossy 

 violet green of its upper parts, and we remark, further, 

 that it lacks the long feathers which adorn either side of 

 the tail of the barn swallow in its full plumage. The 

 colors of the upper parts of this swallow have caused it to 

 be known in some localities as the "green-blue swallow," 

 and the white of its lower parts has suggested another 

 popular name of" white-bellied swallow." The combina- 

 tion of the two colors seems to make the title of " black- 

 and-white swallow" an appropriate one, and hence the 

 specific term bicolor has been aptly conferred. The male 

 alone exhibits the glossy colors of the back. As is cus- 

 tomary among the smaller birds, the female is robed in less 

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