168 THE BIRDS OF NEW JERSEY. 



about April 25 and leaving about September 1, spending 

 the winter in Mexico and the south. 



Swallow, Sea. See Common Tern. 



Swallow, Tree, or While-bellied Swallow. 



The upper parts all steel blue, greenish in the autumn; 

 the under parts, pure white. The length of the bird is 

 six inches. The young are sooty brown above, with no 

 metallic reflections. Some breed in bird boxes when con- 

 venient, but many still prefer a hollow tree or an aband- 

 oned Woodpecker hole, disdaining the commodities of 

 civilization. The nest is made of grass and feathers. 

 The eggs are from four to seven in number, generally six, 

 white, three-fourths by one-half inch in size. The birds 

 breed in the Middle States and northward, being found in 

 spring and summer along the New Jersey coast and in 

 the pine barrens. They spend the winter in Florida and 

 the West Indies southward to Central America. Mig- 

 rants arrive in New Jersey between April 20 and May 15 

 and again between August 15 and September 1. Their 

 song is a warbling twitter. Their food consists princi- 

 pally of insects, taken on the wing, but during migrations 

 they also feed on bay berries. 



Swallow, While-bellied. See Tree Swallow. 



Swan, Whislling. This bird is of rare occurrence 

 in New Jersey, a specimen being occasionally seen along 

 the coast in winter. It is fifty-five inches in length and 

 the entire plumage is white; the bill and feet are black. 

 It builds its nest on the ground in high northern latitudes 

 and in the winter is of frequent occurrence along the 

 coast of the south Atlantic States. 



Swifl, Chimney. Length, four and a half inches; ex- 

 tent, twelve inches. The plumage is of a sooty brown, 

 except the chin and line over the eye, which are of a dull 



