SWALLOWS: Family Hirundinidae [411] 



for about 1.85-1.10." (Bailey) Nest: A bowl-shaped structure of mud mixed with 

 straw, lined with feathers, and cemented to timbers in barns and bridges and other 

 buildings or in a cave or crevice. Eggs: 3 to 5, white, speckled with brown and 

 lavender (Plate 73, A). 



DISTRIBUTION. General: Breeds from northwestern Alaska, Mackenzie, southern 

 Manitoba, and central Quebec south to southern California, Mexico, southern Texas, 

 northern Arkansas, Tennessee, and North Carolina. Winters in Central and South 

 America. In Oregon: Fairly common summer resident and breeding bird. 



THE BARN SWALLOW (Plate 73, A) is found throughout the State, as rec- 

 ords are available from every county, though nowhere is it as abundant 

 as the Cliff Swallow in the large colonies. This bird shows little tendency 

 to colonize. One or two pairs about the ranch yards are about the usual 

 quota. It has been known as an Oregon bird since it was found at Fort 

 Klamath, June 15, 1875, by Lieutenant Wittich (Mearns 1879). Bendire 

 (1877) reported it as a breeding species near Camp Harney, and subsequent 

 writers have reported it from many localities in the State. In our own 

 notes and those of other Biological Survey members we find references to 

 its presence in small numbers in every section of the State. It appears in 

 April (earliest date, April 6, Marion County) and remains until Septem- 

 ber (latest date, September 2.6, Jackson County). With its long, forked 

 tail and long wings, it is the most graceful of all land birds and reminds 

 one of the smaller terns not only in shape but in behavior. It darts 

 about over the grasslands in quick, intricate evolutions that outdo those 

 of any of its relatives a speeding insect trap snaring victims that are 

 not alert enough to escape. 



The cup-shaped mud nests (Plate 73, A) are almost invariably placed on 

 a rafter inside some building or beneath a bridge, and in some com- 

 munities the birds are known as bridge swallows. The eggs are usually 

 laid in May and June, although nests occupied by unfledged young 

 have been reported as late as August 2.0. The earliest egg date we have 

 actually recorded is May 6, the latest, June 5, though we are certain this 

 latter date does not represent the end of the egg-laying period. After 

 the breeding season the Barn Swallows join the great mixed flocks of 

 swallows that swarm over the lowlands or decorate the telephone wires 

 for rods, like strings of jewels. These swarms are usually most abundant 

 in early September. By the middle of that month they are gone except 

 for a few stragglers. 



Northern Cliff Swallow: 



Petrochelidon albifrons albifrons (Rafinesque) 



DESCRIPTION. "Adults: Forehead white, huffy, or brown; crown, back, and patch on 

 chest glossy blue black; throat and sides of head chestnut; rump conspicuous pale rufous; 



