340 n<u:tii AMKiacAN iukiks. 



tail-t'cathers, jiiid in liaviiit,' ;i very ln'nnd, eontimious e<tllar of steel-blue 

 aernss the juuuluiii, ciitiirly isolating tlie ehestiml (tf the tliiuat ; the ahdo- 

 ineii ajijicais in lie luucli \iin\v whitisli than in tlie Anieriean speeies. 



Many spucinien- of If. /inrn>iriii/i sliow a eonlinunus collar, hut then the 

 two lateral Li'eseents are l»ut just itarely eonnected. In Xo. l!,!'.'! 9 » ^ ^^^li'^l*^'? 

 renii., May, tliere is an in<U(ation n[' as broad a collar as in the Kurojiean 

 s]>eeies : lait the area, lliouii:h shaij.ly bountled, is nut uniformly black, beinj; 

 much mixed ccnlrallv witli liniit rufous. 



Sjicciniens of //. hnnrnrii III from both coasts of North America a])pear to 

 be jieifectly identical. 



llAiurs. Xo one of all our North American birds is more widely diffused, 

 more ^nenerally abundant, wlierever found, or better known, than the 'graceful 

 and I'amiliar IJarn Swallow. And no one is more universally or more 

 deservedly a laxorite. Found throu'diout .North America from Florida to 



t,- o 



(Ireenland and iirnn (»cean to ocean, and breediuj^" nearly throuuhout the 

 same wide extent, its distriltution is universal. Wnturiuii; with a confidin*^' 

 trust into our crowdct! cities, and laiilding their elaborate nests in the 

 |)orches of the dwellings, as well as entering in greater nund)ers the barns 

 and farm-l»uildings of the agriculturists and placing themselves under 

 the itrotection of man, tlu?v rarelv fail to win for themselves the interest and 

 nood-will tliev so well deserve. Innocent and lilameless in their lives, there 

 is no evil blended with the many benefits tliey confer on man. They are his 

 ever-constant benefactor and friend, and are uever known, even indirectly, to 

 do liini anv iniurv. For their dailv food, and for that of their offsi)rinL:, 

 they destroy the insects that annoy his cattle, injure his fruit-trees, sting 

 his fruit, or molest his person. Social, affectionate, and kind in their inter- 

 course with each other; faithful and devoted in the discharge of their conju- 

 gal and parental duties ; exemplary, watchful, and tender alike to their own 

 iamilv and to all tlii'ir race : svmi>atliizin«4- and benevolent wlien their fel- 

 lows are in any troubk*, — these lovely and beautiful birds are briglit exam- 

 ples to all, in their blameless and useful lives. 



This Swallow passes the winte months in Central and South America as 

 far south as IWa/il and Paraguay, and the West ln«lies, and i^ found through- 

 out tlie year in tlie Plateau of Mexico. It appears in the Southern States 

 in March, and in the Central States early in A]»ril. In the latter part of this 

 month it reaches New York and New Knglaiul, becoming abundant near 

 Poston about the first of May. Sir John Pichardson found them breeding 

 as far north as latitude (57° ••'•'. They reached Fort Chippewyan, latitude 

 o7', as early as the L'ith of May, taking )>osse.ssion of their nests. It has 

 been lound throughout Canada and in all the Pritish Piovinces, has been 

 met witli in Ni'W Mexico, and is conunon in certain ])ortions of Texas and 

 the Indian Territory, J)r. Cooper states it to be less abundant on the Pacific 

 tjian on the Pastern coast, — a iact attrilaitable to the hick of suitable j)laces 

 in which to buihl. As settlements have nudtiplied, these birds have gradu- 



