340 II II-: AMERICAN BARN S\VA%^0\V. 



the same, according to age ami season ; wings and tail blackish, with i»iir])lish 

 or greenish reflections: tail deeply forked, the outer i>air of feathers being from 

 one to two inches longer, and the rest graduated; white blntches on iiuier webs 

 (except on middle ])air) follow the bifurcation, liiiiiuitiiri-: l-'orehead and 

 throat ])aler: duller or brownish above; lateral tail-feathers not so long. Length 

 about 7.00 (177.8); wing 4.75 (IJO.6); tail 3.00-4.50 (76.2-114.3); bill from 

 nostril .24 (6.1 ). 



RecOKnition Marks. — .\erial habit; riilous nf throat and nnderparts; forked 

 tail: nest n>iially inside the barn. 



Nesting. — Xcsl: a neat bracket or half-bowl of mud, lu.xuriously lined with 

 grass and feathers, and cemented to a beam of barn or bridge. In Washington 

 still nests occasionally in original haunts, viz.. cliffs, caves, and crannied sea-walls. 

 E(/(js: 3-6, of variable shajje. — oval or elongated; white or pinkish white and 

 spotted with cinnamon or umber. .\v. size .76 .\ .55 (19.3x14). Season: last 

 week in May and lirst week in July ; two broods. Stehekin, .\ug. 10. 1896, 4 eggs. 



General Range. — North .\merica at large. I'erhaps the most widely and 

 generally distributed of any .American bird. Winters in Central and South 

 America. 



Range in Washington.- — Summer resident of regular occurrence at lower 

 le\el> thruout the State, less common west of the Cascades, more common else- 

 where in the older settle<l valleys. 



Migrations. — .S'l^riii;/: c. May 1st; ^'akima County. .\|>ril 27. i<;c>7: May 3. 

 l<)o8. I'all: c. Septeml)er 10th; Seattle. September JO. i<»()7. 



Authorities. — Iliruudo horcoruiii I'.enton. Cooper and Suckiev, Kep. I'ac. 

 R. K. Surv. XII.. i)t. II.. iSr.o. p. 1S4. T. C&S. I,. Rh. I)'. Kb. Ra.'lK Ss'. Ss-'. 

 J. v.. E. 



Specimens. — I'rnv. V'. C. E. 



ONE hardly knows what (|iialiiy lo admire most in tiiis lioyhoods and 

 life-long friend, the Barn Swallow. .\1I the dear associations of life at the old 

 farm come thronging up at sight of him. You think of him somehow as a 

 part of the sacred past : yet here he is today as yoimg aiul as fresh as ever, 

 bubbling over with springtime laughter, ready for a frolic over the bee-haunted 

 meafiows, or willing to settle down on the nearest fence-wire and recount to 

 you with sparkling eyes and elorpient gesture the adventmcs of that glorious 

 trip up from Mexico. 



Perhaps it is his childlike entlnisiasm which stirs us. He has come many 

 a league this morning, yet he dashes in thru the open doors and shouts like a 

 Imisterous schoolboy. "Here we are. you dear old barn; ar'n't we glad to get 

 back again!" Then it's out to see the horse-|ion(l : and down the lane where 

 the cattle go, with a dip under the hri<Ige and a few turns over the orchard — 

 a new i)ur]xise. or none, every second — life one full measure of alKHinding joy! 



Or is it the ai^otheosis of motion which takes the eye? See them as they 

 cast a magic spell over the glowing green of the young alfalfa, winding alxnil 

 in the dizzy patterns of a heavenly ballet, or vaulting at a thought to snatch an 



