266 HIRUNDO RUFA — THE BARN SWALLOW. 



is better known by that name than the second, and the 

 third was previously api)lied to the European Chimney 

 Swallow, a nearly related species. 



The Barn Swallow is a very widely distributed species, 

 being found from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and plentiful 

 everywhere in the neighborhood of the habitations of man. 

 By the early writers it was considered identical with the 

 European rustica^ but the species are quite distinct. Still 

 there is considerable confusion in the plates and descrip- 

 tions. Some American individuals approach very near the 

 coloration of the European one, and vice versa. 



The favorite nesting place of our bird is the interior of 

 barns and out houses. The nest is built of mud, mixed 

 with grass or straw, and is securely placed on the side of a 

 beam or ridge pole. It is open at the top, with a bed of 

 grass covered with feathers. The eggs are from four to 

 six, of a transparent white, with small brown spots. When 

 the young are hatched they are fed by both parents, who 

 are unremitting in pursuit of insects for this purpose, and 

 it is surprising what an immense number a single pair will 

 capture during the breeding time. 



They generally appear in the neighborhood of Cleveland 

 about the middle of April, and leave in the beginning of 

 September, sometimes a little earlier. For several days 

 before leaving, they associate in great flocks and keep up 

 an almost constant twittering. They may be often seen 

 by hundreds perched on a telegraph wire. Sometimes 

 other species mingle with them. 



The color is a bright, steel blue, on the upper parts and 

 pectoral collar. Throat chestnut, paler on the abdomen; 

 often reddish white. Tail with a white spot near the mid- 

 dle of the inner webs of each feather, except the middle 

 one, and deeply forked, the outer feather much the longest. 

 Female paler in color. 



