SWx\LLOVVS. 



321 



ito tlie 



partH inixud with dusky, Corfheml uikI throat paler; outer tail-featlu'n* rthorter. 

 L., ti".*'); W., 4t!7 ; T., .I-.W; B. from N., ••_'4. 



A' ///yt'.— North Aiiifrica, iiortli to (irt'onlaiul ami Ahiska; l)ri'i!(ls tlirouj^h- 

 out thi' ^Tcatt-r part of its raMj,'i); winters as far soutli as sduthern Hra/.il. 



\\'ashiti;;toii, ooimnon S. II., more uliuiuluut T. V'., Moh. 2S to Sept. Siiiir 

 Sin;f, eoiniuou S. K., Apl. l.'i to Sept. Jl'. ('uiiihridijje, eoinuioii S. U., hut fast 

 deerensiiiil, Apl. 20 to Sept. 10. 



Xi.st, of iiiuil and t;rasses, lined with grasses and feathers, generally on iho 

 rafter of a hain or other huildini,'. /''Ji/f, four to six, white, w ith numerous 

 spots of einnaninn-, olive-, or rufous-hrown, geuerully smaller than tlie eggs 

 of /'. luiiif'niiiH, -77 X ■')-t. 



Barn Swallows nest both in pairs and colonies, and during the 

 breeding sea.son are more generally distributed than any of our Swal- 

 lows. Almost every old-fashioned barn with its great doors hospita- 

 bly opened is cheered by their sweet call-notes and happy twittering 

 song as they dart in and out on their errands of love. 



Barn Swallows take first rank among a family of birds famous for 

 their power of flight. While their relatives are circling about feeding 

 on insects in the air above, they cafiture their prey nearer the ground, 

 skimming low over the fields, turning (f.iit'kly to right or left, up or 

 down, and pursuing their erratic cour.se with marvelous ease and grace. 



614. Tachycineta bicolor ( Ta ///.). Tkke Sw,\li.ow; Wuite- 



BEi.LiKi) Swallow. Ad. — L'piier parts steel-blue or .steel-green ; under parts 

 pure wliito ; outer tail-feathers somewhat longer than the middle ones. /m. 

 — Upper parts brownish gray; under parts pure white. L., o-DO; W., 4-70; 

 T., 2-35; B. from i\., -22. 



/I'awye.— North Ameriea, north to Labrador and Alaska; breeils locally 

 throughout Its range; winters from South Carolina southward. 



Washington, eonunon T. V., Apl. 1 to May 25; July lo to Sept. Sing 

 Sing, common T. V., Apl. 4 to May 2t5; Aug. 4 to Oct. 10. Cambridge, S. U., 

 formerly common, now conuuou only as a migrant, Apl. 5 to Oct. 12. 



A''e/it, of coarse gra.sses and feathers, in a liollow tree or hird-bux. i.'(/(/f<, 

 four to seven, white, '74 x -bo. 



While our eastern Barn and Eavc Swallows have abajidoned their 

 primitive methods of nesting in caves or beneath clifTs, and the Bank 

 Swallows still adhere to the customs of their ancestors, Tree Swallows 

 are passing through a transition period in their history. Some acce{)t 

 the houses or boxes erected by man as substitutes for the holes in trees 

 or stumps which others still use. 



Near New York city they are the first birds to flock after the nest- 

 ing season, and they begin to gather in our marshes as early as July 

 1. Their numbers rapidly increase, and the maximum of abundance 

 is reached about August 15, when they outnumber all other Swallows 

 together by at least three to one. They return to their roosts in the 

 22 



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