60 BULLETIN FERGUS COUNTY HIGH SCHOOL 



Distinguishing features: Upper parts chiefly bluish-black; forehead 

 white; back of neck grayish brown; wing and tail blackish brown; rump 

 cinnamon; lower parts chiefly grayish brown; length 5-6 inches. 

 613. BARN SWALLOW. Hirundo erythrogastra. 



The barn swallow is very generally distributed over the prairie dis- 

 tricts of the county as a summer resident. Most of the barns along the 

 stage routes, as well as the barns of the ranches, have small colonies of 

 this species. The first barn swallows generally appear .early in May, and 

 after that time their graceful evolutions over the water and about the 

 ranch-lots are a familiar part of our summer avian life. They remain in 

 this neighborhood until the middle of September. 



Distinguishing features: Upper parts steel-blue; forehead rusty 

 brown; wings and tail blackish; front of neck and upper 'breast cinna- 

 mon, enclosed by steel-blue sides of chest; other lower parts varying cin- 

 namon; length 6-7 inches. 



614. TREE SWALLOW. Iridoprocne bicolor. 



The tree swallow is found in all suitable localities throughout this 

 region. Dr. J. A. Allen states that this swallow was common at one 

 locality on the Musselshell, but not seen elsewhere. Owing to the lack 

 of suitable conditions, the tree swallow is not found in the immediate 

 neighborhood of Lewistown. It prefers the dead trees on the margins of 

 rivers and lakes, where it can make its nest in the deserted cavities made 

 by woodpeckers. Trees in places annually submerged by high water are 

 the most favored resorts of the tree swallow, and in such surroundings it 

 IJves in colonies of varying numbers. 



Distinguishing features: Upper parts steel-blue, lower parts white; 

 length 5-6 inches. 



616. BANK SWALLOW. Riparia riparis. 



A very common bird of the streams where there are high banks to 

 attract it. Many colonies live along Big Spring Creek. This swallow 

 arrives from the south early in May, generally in the first week, and 

 remains until the end of August. 



Distinguishing features: Upper parts grayish brown; lower parts 

 white, chest and sides with a band of brownish gray; length about 5 

 inches. 



618. BOHEMIAN WAXWING. Ampelis garrulus. 



A common visitant in winter, generally in ffocks of varying size, 

 sometimes numbering several hundred. On Feb. 21, 1903, I startled a large 

 f.ock of waxwings in a patch of rose bushes on Big Spring Creek near 

 Lewistown. They rose in a dense body, with loud whir of wings, and im- 

 mediately settled for a few moments, after which they again arose and 

 few away far across the town. They are noted most commonly on a bright 

 day preceding or following a storm. Mrs. Sloane told me of an instance 

 \rhen a large flock of these waxwings alighted in a small tree in F. B. 

 Wright's dooryard, at least two hundred crowding into the tree and sitting 

 thus in compact array, as their custom is when at rest. In November, 

 generally after our first fall of snow, Bohemian waxwings congregate in the 



