536 



BAKN SWALLOW. 



Color. Adult male, above, uiiil-ji-ia steely-blue, wiuj^s and tail browner. The latter has a subterminal 

 bandof vellowish-white caused by spots upon the inner \vebs of all the feathers excepting the two middle 

 ones. Forehead, throat and upper part of the breast, chestnut. The remaining under portions, including 

 under wing and under tail coverts, rich chestnut-brown. The steely- 

 blue of the back e.xtenils down the sides of the upper portions of the 

 brea.st and freijuently forms a band quite across it. Adult female, 

 similar, but paler beneath. Young male, similar to the adult female. 

 Young female, very pale beneath, becoming yellowish-white on those 

 parts which are chestnut-brown on the adult. Nestlings of both sexes, 

 are much duller above, have the frontal band naiTOwer and are very 

 pale beneath in comparison with the adult, but some female s]ieeimena 

 are as deeply colored as the year-old birds of the same sex. In this 

 stage, the throat and upper portion of the breast ai-e frequently uniform 

 with the other portions beneath. The outer tail feathers are not as 

 elongated nor as narrow at the tips ; these feathers being acquired after 

 the first moult. 



Fk; I;4 Llead, and tail feather 

 of Adult Male Barn Swallow. 



OBSERVATIONS. 



Easily distinguished from all other North American Swallows by 

 the elongated tail feathers. The intensity of color beneath is extremely 

 variable ; one adult male now before me, which was taken at Ipswich, 

 in summer, is so exceedingly rich in color on these portions that the 

 lower breast, abdomen, etc., are nearly as dark as the throat and upper 



breast. This specimen has also concealed spots of chestnut on the feathers of the nape, back and 

 scapularies : indications of these spots occasionally appear on other specimens, but not to the extent seen in 

 this finely colored bird. The blue band across the breast is also quite changeable ; it is nearly always indi- 

 cated in the adult, but sometimes it is very plainly marked. One adult male taken at Ipswich has a band 

 three-fourths of an inch wide, starting on either side, dividing in the middle of the breast and enclosing a S])Ot 

 of chestnut which contains some blue feathers. Distributed daring the breeding season throughout the 

 United States and Canada, wintering in the West Indies and Central An^erica. 



DIMENSIONS. 



Average measurements of fourteen specimens. Length, 6.8!); stretch, 12.I.)S; wing, 4.8.") ; tail, 2.7.0 ; 

 bill, .45 ; tarsus, .45. Longest specimen, 7.(10 ; greatest extent of wings, 13.00 ; longest wing, 4.85 ; tail, 

 3.19; bill, .55; taVsus, .48. Shortest specimen, (.>..j5 ; smallest extent of wings, 4.66; shortest wing, 4.50 ; 

 tail, 2.15; bill, .40; tarsus, .35. 



DESCRIPTION OF NESTS AND EGGS. 



Nests, fastened against beams, etc., in barns and out-buildings: composed of mud mixed with grasses 

 and lined with fine grasses and feathers. Dimensions, external diameter, 5.00; internal, 3.00; external 

 depth, 2.50; internal, 1.50. 



Eggs, five or six in number, long oval in form, rather pointed ; pure white in color, spotted and blotched 

 irregularly with reddish-brown and lilac. Dimensions. .50 by .75 to .56 by .04. 



HABITS. 



On some frosty morning in April, not long after the snow has di.sappeared, two or 

 three Barn Swallows ma}^ be seen perched on the roof of some out-building, looking like 

 little balls, for each feather stands at right angles with the body to prevent the ingress 

 of the cold. Later in the day these few individuals may be seen roaming about in the 

 clear air ; then, after a week or so, when spring is fairly set in, hundreds are I'apidly pur- 



