THE SWALLOWS. 8 



purple martin, which are smooth and glossy, resembling highly 

 polished ivory. 



The barn swallow is the most beautiful of our four. The back is 

 covered with soft smooth plumes of deep lustrous steel blue, glowing 

 with irridescent hues, and wings and tail are black with a greenish 

 gloss. The breast bears a rich warm chestnut shield, and a band of 

 this same warm tint crosses the forehead. The neck is partially 

 encircled with steel blue. A distinguishing characteristic of this 

 species is the elongated tail feathers, and while these are not so 

 long in the young birds as in the adults, they are long enough at 

 all ages to make the tail appear deeply "forked." The young 

 vary also from the adult in wearing much duller colors, the upper 

 parts of very young birds being brownish black, and the under 

 parts brownish white. 



The eave swallow in general coloration resembles the bam swallow, 

 though the latter's forked tail makes that species easily distinguish- 

 able. The colors of the tree swallow are metallic green on the upper 

 parts, and pure white beneath. It was called the white-bellied 

 swallow formerly. The upper parts of the bank swallow are of a 

 grayish brown color, and a collar of the same hue encircles the neck ; 

 the under parts are white. 



The purple martin is the largest of the swallow tribe that is seen 

 in this country, and is further distinguished by the lustrous blue- 

 black color of its entire plumage, the females and young being 

 somewhat streaked on the underparts. 



On the wing our swallows appear so similar that they cannot be 

 distinguished readily, though the large size of the purple martin 

 enables us to select him from the others, and the forked tail of the 

 barn swallow and the white breast of the tree swallow help us in 

 picking out these species. 



Swallows rarely alight excepting at their nests. One exception 

 to this rule occurs when they gather on the telegraph wires. At the 

 time the young birds are taking their lessons in flying, numbers of 

 the birds may be seen resting on the wires, and again when the 

 clans are gathering for the journey southward. Owing to the little 

 use they make of their legs and feet these parts are not developed. 

 The legs are extremely short and the feet are weak. The bill is 



