40 
NEW-YORK FAUNA- BIRDS. 
THE BARN SWALLOW. 
Hirundo rufa. 
PLATE XXIX. FIB. 64. 
(STATE COLLECTION. Male and female.) 
Hirundo rufa. G.melin. 
Chimney Swallow. Pennant, Arct. Zoology, Vol. 2, p. 429. 
H. americana. Wilson, Am. Ornith. Vol. 5, p. 34, pi. 38, figs. 1 and 2. 
H rufa . Bonaparte, Ann. Lyc. N. Y. Vol. 2. p. 64. Nuttall, Man. Orn. Vol. 1, p. 601, figure.. 
H. rustica. Audubon, fol. pi. 173; Orn. Biog. Vol. 2, p. 413, and Vol. 4, p. 411. 
H. americana. Richardson, F. B. A. Vol.2, p. 329. 
H. ruslica. Audubon, B. of .A. Vol.. 1, p. 181, pi. 48 (male and female). 
H. rustica, Barn Swallow. Giraud, Birds of Long Island, p. 35. 
Characteristic's. Steel-blue above ; beneath chesnut. Tail deeply forked ; the lateral fea¬ 
thers narrow, and longer than the wings. Length, 7 inches. 
Description. General color above glossy blue. Forehead and beneath bright chesnut: 
a band on the neck, glossy blue. Bill black. Irides dark brown. Legs dark purple. Tail 
deeply forked : all the feathers, but the central pair, have a large white spot on the middle of 
their inner webs. Female and young , paler beneath, and the exterior tail-feathers shorter. 
Length, 6'5 —7*0. 
The Barn Swallow is one of our most common visiters. It makes its nest of pellets of 
mud mixed with grass, and attached to the rafters or eaves of outhouses. It deposits from 
4 to 6 white eggs, sparsely spotted with reddish brown. It destroys numerous noxious winged 
insects. It has been observed in Mexico. It usually appears in Louisiana the latter end of 
February, and in this State the latter end of March or beginning of April. This year, it did 
not appear here until the 18th of April. It leaves this State about the end of August. It 
has been observed as far north as 67° 5CK, Peculiar to America, but confounded by many 
with the H. rxistica of Europe. 
