DIKECTOUY TO BIRDS OF EASTERN NORTH AMERICA. 1259 



L. SWALLOWS. Hiruiuliniclae. 



Singing perchers modified for taking their food on the 

 wing ; bill, small, but with a very wide gape ; wings, long and 

 pointed ; feet, small. Eggs, white, with or without spots. 

 a. Martins. Prog^ne. 

 Large, nearly uniformly colored swallows; bill and feet, 

 fig. 340, large; tail, somewhat forked. 

 Fig. 340. Fig. 341. 



CC, L, a, 1. 



1. PUEPLE MARTIN, A. subis. 8.25; uniform steel- 

 blue with violet iridescence, fig. 341. Female, duller above; 

 grayish-white beneath. Breeds throughout temperate N. A. ; 

 winters in Mexico and northern S. A. ; south in Sep. ; north 

 in April. Nests in holes of trees and bird boxes; eggs, un- 

 spotted. Flight, strong but rather heavy. Notes, loud, clear, 

 and melodious. 



1*. FLORIDA MARTIN, P. s. fi.okidana. Differs 

 from 1 in being smaller; male, darker; female, much more 

 grayish beneath, with the white more dull. Breeds in mid- 

 dle and southern Fla. ; north in March. 



2. CUBAN MARTIN, P. cryptoleuca. Differs from 1 

 in the more deeply forked tail ; male with a broad, but con- 



