252 REPORT OF NEW JERSEY STATE MUSEUM. 



cinnamon and white feathers ; sides of breast, body, flanks and crissum, cinna- 

 mon, somewhat streaked with black ; center of abdomen, white. 



Nest of mud shaped like a retort or with a hole in the side, lined with 

 feathers ; eggs, four to five, white, spotted with reddish-brown, .80 x .55. 



Tolerably common transient and local summer resident, especially 

 in the pine barrens. Arrives April 29th, departs September 1st. 



The Cliff Swallow nests in colonies usually under the eaves of a barn. 

 It is decidedly local and is generally reported to be less abundant 

 than it was thirty or forty years ago. 



It nests at several localities in Cape May, Cumberland and Bur- 

 lington counties, and nested near Princeton up until 1896 1 (Babson). 

 At Plainfield Mr. Miller reports a few nesting every year, while Mr. 

 Hales 2 reports it at Ridgewood, and Mr. Thurber at Morristown. Mr. 

 S. N. Rhoads found it plentiful at Greenwood Lake and the Wallkill 

 Valley, June, 1909. Mr. Crispin says it formerly bred at Salem. 



613 Hirundo erythrogaster Boddaert. 

 Barn Swallow. 



PLATE 66. 



Adults. Length, 6-7.50. Wing, 4.75. Above, glossy steel-blue; forehead, 

 chestnut ; outermost tail feathers elongated, all but middle pair, with a con- 

 spicuous white subterminal spot on the inner web ; under parts, light cinnamon 

 rufous, deeper and more chestnut on the throat and breast, the steel-blue coming 

 around on the sides of the breast forming a half collar. 



Young in first summer. Similar, but much duller ; forehead, gray ; sides of 

 head and collar, blackish; outer tail feathers only a little elongated; subter- 

 minal spots more or less chestnut ; under side much paler. 



Nest of mud lined with grass and feathers plastered against a rafter in a 

 barn or stable ; eggs, four to six, white, spotted with brown or rusty, .80 x .55. 



Common summer resident. Arrives April 10th (April 23d), de- 

 parts September 10th. 



This is our most familiar Swallow, and there is scarcely a barn that 

 has not one or more pairs, flying in and out twittering as they go. 



Later we see whole families sailing low over the ponds or meadows, 

 feeding on the wing as is the custom of their kind. 



The rusty color of the under parts distinguishes them from all but 

 the Cliff Swallow, while the forked tail is in strong contrast to the 

 nearly square tail of that species. 



1 Birds of Princeton, p. 67. 



2 Bird Lore, 1906, p. 173. 



