456 THE BIRDS OF MAINE 



Genus HIRUNDO Linn. 



* 6 IS. Hirundo erythrogaster Bodd. Barn Swallow. 



Plumage of adults : tail deeply forked and with white spots on inner webs 

 of all but middle feathers ; upper parts glossy steel blue or iridescent green ; 

 forehead, throat and upper breast chestnut ; under parts otherwise white, 

 more or less washed with chestnut; tail forked for nearly two inches. 

 Immatvure plumage : fork of tail only about an inch deep ; forehead russet ; 

 chin and throat russet tinged ; in general very similar to adults. Wing 4.75 ; 

 tail 3.80, forked for nearly two inches in adults. 



Geog. Dist. — North America, breeding from Lower California and Mexico 

 to the Fur Countries ; wintering in Central and South America ; in migra- 

 tion found in West Indies. 



County Records. — Androscoggin; abundant summer resident, (Johnson). 

 Aroostook ; locally common throughout the county, (Knight). Cumberland ; 

 common summer resident, (Mead). Franklin; common summer resident, 

 (Swaiuyi. Hancock ; common local summer resident, also found even on the 

 outer inhabited islands, (Knight). Kennebec; quite common summer resi- 

 dent, (Gardiner Branch). Knox; summer, (Rackliff). Oxford ; breeds com- 

 monly, (Nash). Penobscot; common to abundant locally and summer 

 resident, (Knight). Piscataquis; common, breeds, (Homer). Sagadahoc; 

 common summer resident, (Spinney). Somerset; common summer resident, 

 (Morrell). Waldo; common summer resident, (Knight). Washington; very 

 abundant summer resident, (Boardman). York; common summer resident, 

 (Adams). 



The usual time of arrival near Bangor is April twenty-fifth 

 and the time of departure about late August, occasionally a 

 few seen as late as September fifteenth. They nest almost 

 entirely in barns, placing their nests on or against beams and 

 timber^. The nests are composed of pellets of mud gathered 

 in the same places as the Cliff Swallows obtain their supplies, 

 and in fact a few Barn Swallows may often be seen mingled 

 in a mid-highway group of the former about a mud puddle. 

 The Barn Swallow, however, makes a normal shaped nest, not 

 roofing it over. 



One type of nest is half-saucer shaped and supported against 

 the side of a beam, while another type is placed on top of a 

 beam and is round. A lining of straw, fine grass or feathers 

 completes the nest. The species is not as socially inclined as 

 the Clifl Swallow, only a few pair nesting in a barn. The 



