166 THE BIRDS OF NEW JERSEY. 



dark chestnut red; back, steel-blue; breast and belly, 

 lighter chestnut; tail, forked, the outer feathers an inch 

 and a quarter longer than the next pair; color of tail, 

 brownish black with white spots on exterior feathers, and 

 reflections of green; wings, above black with reflections of 

 green; legs, dark brown. The young birds are lighter be- 

 low, duller above, and with the outer tail feathers only 

 three-eights of an inch longer than the next pair. 



The birds nest in barns or any convenient building, 

 the nest being made of mud and grass and lined with finer 

 grass and feathers. The eggs are from four to six in 

 number, white, with brown spots, and three-fourths by 

 one-half inch in size. 



The birds breed throughout the whole of North Amer- 

 ica and spend the winter in Mexico and southward. They 

 are very abundant in New Jersey fram April 19 to Sep- 

 tember 1. 



Their song is a pleasant twitter. 



Their food consists of insects generally taken on the 

 wing near the ground. 



Swallow^ Chimney. See Chimney Swift. 



Swallow, CHIT, or JEave Swallow. Length, five 

 and a half to six inches; extent, ten to eleven inches; bill, 

 one-fifth of an inch long, black; forehead, buff, forming 

 a crescent-shaped frontlet; crown, steel-blue; throat and 

 sides of head, chestnut, the former with a steel-blue 

 central spot, a brownish gray band around the hind neck; 

 back, steel-blue, with indistinct white streaks; breast, 

 brownish gray; belly, white; tail, nearly square, dark 

 brown, with greenish lustre; rump, chestnut; wings, 

 dark brown, glossed with greenish; feet, brown. 



The location of the nest depends a great deal on cir- 

 cumstances. When near human habitations the birds 

 build their nests under the eaves of houses or other build- 

 ings; in uninhabited parts they nest under cliffs; when the 



