338 BIRDS OF ONTARIO. 



GENUS CHELIDON FORSTER. 

 CHELIDON ERYTHROGASTER (BODD.). 



247. Barn Swallow. (613) 



Lustrous steel-blue ; below, rufous or pale chestnut of varying shade ; 

 forehead, chin and throat, deep chestnut ; breast, with an imperfect steel-blue 

 collar ; tail, with white spots on the inner web of all the feathers, except the 

 inner pair. Sexes alike, young, less lustrous, much paler below ; tail, simply 

 forked. Wing, 4-4f ; tail, 2-5. 



HAB. North 'America in general, from the Fur Countries southward to 

 the West Indies, Central America and South America. 



Nest, in a barn or other outbuilding, composed of pellets of mud and bits 

 of straw, and lined with feathers. 



Eggs, four or five, white, spotted with reddish-brown. 



While the Cliff Swallow chooses to fix its nest outside the building 

 under the eaves, the present species prefers the inside, where its 

 dwelling is seen attached to the beams and rafters. 



They, too, are to some extent gregarious, as many as twenty or 

 thirty pairs being often found nesting together in the same outhouse. 



The Swallows, as a class, from their great rapidity of flight and 

 graceful aerial evolutions, are the most easily recognized of all our 

 birds, and this species is perhaps the most accomplished of the group. 

 It is seen skimming over the fields and meadows at a rate which 

 leaves the "lightning express" far behind, and suddenly checking its 

 course it will dart, with surprising rapidity, to right or left in pursuit 

 of some passing insect. It likes to be near a still, sheltered pond, 

 where it can drink and bathe while on the wing. Beautiful it is, on 

 a still summer evening, to see these birds take their plunge bath, 

 and, almost without checking their speed, rise gracefully from the 

 surface of the water, shake sparkling drops from their burnished 

 backs, and continue their airy gambols till the fading light calls 

 them to their humble home. They arrive in Ontario early in May, 

 and are generally distributed over the country during summer, but 

 about the end of August they begin to move toward the south, and 

 soon all have disappeared. 



During the summer this species seems to be somewhat irregularly 

 distributed, for in Manitoba Mr. Thompson speaks of it as a rare 

 spring visitant, and Dr. Coues says it is a very rare summer resident 

 at Moose River and various other points along the boundary line, 

 while in Alaska Mr. Nelson says that it is the most common and 

 widely distributed of all the swallows throughout the north. 



