MAY BIRDS. 65 



The barn-swallow (Jiirundo jLorrcoriini), 

 perhaps the commonest of our swallows, 

 but which generally arrives from the South 

 several weeks later than the white-breasted 

 swallow, may be easily distinguished by 

 his reddish-brown breast and his exceed- 

 ingly forked tail. This swallow, like the 

 chimney-swift, formerly nested in the hol- 

 low trunks of trees. 



The eave-swallow, or cliff-swallow {petro- 

 chelidon lunifrons), is nearly as common as 

 the barn-swallow. In accommodating it- 

 self to the advance of civilization, this sw^al- 

 low has very naturally chosen to build its 

 plaster nest outside the barn, under the 

 eaves, as most similar to the ancient cliffs 

 which its ancestors had used for the same 

 purpose. 



The smallest of all the swallows and al- 

 most the only one whose breeding habits 

 have suffered no change since the white 

 man settled the country, is the little bank- 

 swallow {cotyle riparia), which is not very 

 common in this vicinity. This bird, like 

 the kingfisher, still lays its eggs in the 

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