HIRUNDINIDZ, SWALLOWS.—GEN. 44, 45. 113 
Swallows are insectivorous, and therefore migratory in cold and temperate lati- 
tudes ; unsurpassed in powers of flight, they are enabled to pass with ease and 
swiftness from one country to another, as the state of the weather may require. 
With us a few warm days in February and March often allure them northward, only 
to be driven back again by the cold, giving rise to the well-known adage. No birds 
are better known to all classes than these, and none so welcome to man’s abode— 
cherished witnesses of peace and plenty in the homestead, dashing ornaments of 
the busy thoroughfare. 
The habits of swallows best illustrate the modifying influences of civilization on 
indigenous birds. Formerly, they all bred on cliffs, in banks, in hollows of trees, 
and similar places, and many do so still. But most of our species have forsaken 
these primitive haunts to avail themselves of the convenient artificial nesting places 
that man, intentionally or otherwise, provides. Some are just now in a transition 
state; thus the purple martin, in settled parts of the country, chooses the boxes 
everywhere provided for its accommodation, while in the West it retains its old 
custom of breeding in hollow trees. 
44. Genus HIRUNDO Linneus. 
Barn Swallow. Lustrous steel blue; below, rufous or pale chestnut 
of varying shade; forehead, chin and throat deep chestnut; breast with an 
imperfect steel-blue collar; tail forficate, 
its outer feathers attenuate, all but the 
middle pair with white spots on the inner 
web; bill and feet black. Sexes alike; 
young less lustrous, much paler below, 
tail simply forked. Wing 43-43; tail 24 
to 5 inches. North America, abundant 
in the United States in the summer, 
breeding in colonies in barns and out- 
houses ; eggs white, speckled. Wuts., v, 
34, pl. 38; Nurr., i, 601; Aup., i, 181, 
pl. 48; Bp., 308. . . . HORREORUM. 
45. Genus TACHYCINETA Cabanis. 
White-bellied Swallow. Lustrous 
green, below pure white; tail simply 
emarginate. Young similar, not so 
glossy. 6-64; wing 5; tail 24. North Bie Soa barn Swallow: 
America, abundant in the United States in summer. Waits., v, 49, pl. 38; 
meer, 605); Aup., 1, 175, pl. 46;.Bp., 310. . . 4. . . BICOLOR. 
Violet-green Swallow. Opaque velvety green, purple and violet ; spot over 
the eye, sides of rump, and whole under parts pure white. Young similar, 
duller. 43-54; wing 44; tail 2, emarginate. Rocky Mountains to the 
Pacific, U. S.; an exquisite species, breeding in knotholes and woodpeckers’ 
holes, in pine woods and in weather-worn holes in cliffs. (ALLEN, Am. 
Nat. 1872, 274.) Aup.,i, 186, pl. 49; Bp., 309; Coop., 107. THALASSINA. 
KEY TO N. A. BIRDS. 15 
