EEPORT OF STATE GEOLOGIST. 



146. GBNUS TACHYCINBTA CABANIS. 



*240. (614). Tachycineta bicolor (VIBILL.). 



Tree Swallow. 

 Synonym, WHITE-BELLIED SWALLOW. 



Adult. Above, lustrous green or steel-blue; below, pure white. 

 Immature. Less glossy. 



Length, 5.00-6.25; wing, 4.50-4.80; tail, 2.30-2.50. 



EANGE. North America, from Guatemala to Labrador, Great Slave 

 Lake and Alaska. Breeds from Virginia, southern Indiana and Colo- 

 rado north. Winters from South Carolina south. 



Nest, in a hole in tree or stub; of leaves and grass lined with feathers. 

 Eggs, 3-7; white; .75 by .52. 



The Tree Swallow is generally a migrant southward, but in the 

 lower Wabash Valley and in northern Indiana it is a summer resident 

 locally in suitable places. In some localities it is rare and in others 

 very abundant. It doubtless formerly bred where the conditions were 

 favorable throughout the State. Mr. E. R. Quick recalls having seen 

 Swallows years ago in Franklin County, occupying holes in trees, in 

 summer, which he now is satisfied were this species. They were also 

 seen there as late as June 2, 1884. Mr. Eobert Eidgway informs me 

 that when he lived at Mt. Carmel, 111., some years ago, this Swallow 

 "was one of the most abundant summer residents, decidedly the most 

 numerous of the family, breeding in very large colonies in sloughs 

 connected with the river, their nests being invariably built in aban- 

 doned Woodpeckers' holes in dead stumps and trees. They were con- 

 fined to the bottom lands. It was particularly numerous immediately 

 above the dam at the Grand Eapids, about two and a half miles above 

 Mt. Carmel, where a great number of large trees had been killed by 

 raising the water level following the completion of the dam. I have no 

 reason to suppose it does not still breed there wherever there are 

 suitable places." 



It breeds along the Kankakee River, where it is reported from 

 English Lake (Deane) and Porter County (Parker). Also in Dekalb 

 County (Mrs. Jane L. Hine, Snyder). This species winters in num- 

 bers regularly along the Gulf Coast. It is the first Swallow to arrive 

 at its breeding grounds in the spring, often appearing before the ice 

 is out of the rivers and lakes, and the last to leave in the fall. How- 

 ever, where it is only known as a migrant its appearance is very irregu- 

 lar and it is usually rare, appearing nearly always later than it does at 



