HIRTTNDIXID.E- THE SWALLOWS. 349 



Mr. Heplmrn stat.is tl.at this Swallow l.as .p.ito an oxtonsive vai.-o alon- 

 the I'acili.s coast, l)iit is irstricteil as to tlu; h.caiiti,.s it inhal.its. ^ At llm 

 Pul-as lianche, near Sau Francisco, it is oven more common than tlie hin>/„r, 

 while a few miles from thence not one is to he seen, ilc has also seen it on' 

 the hank.s of the Fresno, near its junction witli the San Joaquin Itiver an.l 

 again in the Yoscniite Valley, without nieetin- witli a sin-lc specimen in tlie 

 intervening country. About Victoria this was the [.nnaiiing species. These 

 Swallows, so iiir as Mv. Hepburn obscrv..!, always l)uikl in holes of trees 

 Their nest, he states, is formed of a few line dry .stems of grass, j.laced at the 

 bottom ot the hole, c.nered over with a thick ma.ss of leathers. Tlie e-s 

 he adds, are pure white, large for the si/e of tlu3 bird, measuring .Sl'Tjf' 

 an inch in length by .50 iu brea.lth. These Swallows have two broods in a 

 season. In ISli-l he noted their arrival in San xMateo County on the 2Sth of 

 March. 



]\rr. lii.lgway writes that he first met with the; Violct-given Swallow in 

 May, on the islands in Pyramid Lake, Jl,. there found it verv abundant 

 among the dills of calcareous tufa of whi,.], tlu" island was comp(',s,Ml. They 

 were seen to enter the fissures of the rock to their nests witliin, which it was 

 lound imi.ossil,lc to reach. Tliey were again seen in Julv amono the lime- 

 stone cldls along the canons of tiie East irnmb.,ldt M.iuntains^ associated 

 with the White-throated Swift, buil.liiig like them in the small h..nz..ntal 

 crevices or fissuivs on the face of the precipice. He was not able to <n't at 

 more than two of their nests, tlie first in a horizontal fissure just wide enou<.]i 

 to admit the hand, and about eight in.'hes from th.; entrance. It contained 

 five young. Tiie nest was siunlar to that .>f the I'.ank SwaUow, and was 

 composed of sticks, straws, and feathers. I,, the other the femah, was dead 

 on her nest, and the eggs were broken. They were white, like those of the 

 ff. h;rolo): 



In its flight this bird is .said to greatly resemble the White-liellied Swal- 

 low, but is distinguishable by the contmst of the three colors of its up].er 

 plumage. These two .si)ecies are rarely to be .seen in the same localities the 

 Imolor lu'eferrmg wooded, and this species rockv h)calities. 



Mr. Lord states that this beautiful Swallow was common from the coast 

 along the entire course ..f the bonmlary line, to tiie .summit of the Ifockv 

 Mountain.s. They were among the earli..st visitors at ('olviUe, arriving in 

 small Hocks in March, but in greater numbers in May and June They Imihl 

 111 Jnne, making their nests in holes in dead trees as hiuh as thev can -^..f 

 and lay four or five eggs. The nest is made ..f feathers and soft hair. Th..y 

 ass(-mble m la.ge flocks before migrating in September. Mr. Lord f.'lt iiirttV 

 sure their nesting-lmles were excavated in the soft woo.l by themselves 

 though their soft beak seems ill adapted to perform such labor. 



