niRUNDIXIDvE — Tin: ^iWALLOWS. 349 



^fr. TToplmrn states tliat tliis Swiillow has «juito an cxtfiisivo raiiLjo aloiiLj: 

 the Pacilic. coast, hut is ivstrictcd as to thi* localities it inhahits. At the 

 Pulgas llanche, near San Francisco, it is even more conniion tlian the hirolnr, 

 while a lew miles I'rom thence not one is to he seen, lie has also sei-n it on 

 the hanks of the Fresno, near its junction with the San Joaijuin Jliver, and 

 again in the Yosemite Valley, without meeting with a sin^le specimen in the 

 interveniui^ country. Ahout Victoria this was the prevailing,' species. These 

 Swallows, so far as ^Ir. Hepburn observed, always build in holes of trees. 

 Their nest, he states, is formed of a few tine dry stems (jf ji;rass, ])laced at the 

 bottom of the hole, covered over with a thick mass of feathers. The e^ns, 

 he adds, are ])ure white, large for the size of the l)ird, measuring .SI of 

 an inch in length by .oO in breadth. Tliese Swallows have two broods in a 

 season. In 1804 he noted their arrival in San Mateo County on the 2Stli of 

 !Marcli. 



Mr. Kidgway writes that he first met with the Violet-green Swallow in 

 Mav, on the islands in Fvramid Lake. He there found it verv abundant 

 among the clitl's of calcareous tufa of whi(di the island was comijosed. They 

 were seen to enter the fissures of the rock to their nests within, which it was 

 found im])ossible to reach. They were again seen in July among the lime- 

 stone cliffs along the canons of the East Humboldt Mountains, associated 

 with the White-throated Swift, buildini'- like them in tlie small horizontal 

 crevices or fissures on the face of the precij)iee. He was not able to get at 

 more than two of their nests, the first in a horizontal fi.ssure just wide enough 

 to admit the hand, and about eight inches from the entrance. It contained 

 five vouui^. The nest was similar to that of the liank Swallow, and was 

 composed of sticks, straws, and feathers. In tlu; other the female was dead 

 on her nest, and the e<4gs were broken. Thev were white, like those of the 

 H. hirolor. 



In its flight this bird is said to uroatlv resemble the White-bellied Swal- 

 low, but is distinguishable by the contrast i»f the three colors of its u})])er 

 plumage. These two species are rarely to be seen in the same Localities, the 

 Incolor i)referring wooded, and this species rocky hxalities. 



Mr. Lord states that this beautiful Swallow was common from the coast 

 along the entire course of the boundary line, to the summit of the IJcx-kv 

 ^lountains. Thev were anionic the earliest visitors at Colville, arrivintf in 

 small fiocks in March, but in greater numbers in May and June. They build 

 in June, making their nests in holes in dead trees as high as they can get, 

 and lav four or five eirgn. The nest is made (»f feathers and soft hair. T-.v v 

 a.ssemble in large flocks l)efore migrating in Sejitember. ]\Ir. Lord felt pretty 

 sure their nesting-holes were excavated in the soft wood bv themselves, 

 though their soft beak seems ill adapted to perform such labor. 



