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THE WHITE-BELLIED SWALLOW. 



HiRUNDO BICOLOR, VlEILL. 

 PLATE XCVIII. Male and Female. 



This Swallow often spends the winter months in the State of Loui- 

 siana, resorting principally to the neighbourhood of the marshes that bor- 

 der the lakes of Pont Chartrain and those of Bayou St John, near the 

 city of New Orleans, an account of which I have already given when 

 speaking of the Republican Swallow. At the beginning of spring, it 

 spreads widely over the country, and may be observed skimming over 

 the streets of our cities, as well as along the meadows in their neighbour- 

 hood. 



Its flight is easy, continued, and capable of being greatly protracted. 

 It is seen sailing, circhng, turning, and winding in all directions, during 

 the greater part of the day. Like all other Swallows, it feeds on the 

 wing, unceasingly pursuing insects of various kinds, and in seizing them 

 producing a snapping noise which may be heard at some distance. So 

 quarrelsome is this Swallow, that it is almost continually fighting with its 

 own species. Yet they remain in flocks at aU seasons, and many pairs 

 are often seen to breed within a short distance of each other. It also 

 attacks the House Swallow, and frequently takes possession of its nest. 



It generally prefers the hoUow of a tree for its nest, which is of a 

 globular form, composed of slender grasses, and abundantly lined with 

 feathers of various kinds. The eggs are from four to six, of a pure white 

 colour, strongly tinged with blush, occasioned by the transparency of the 

 shell, and are deposited about the end of May. It breeds twice during 

 the season. 



No sooner have the young of the second brood acquired their full 

 power of flight, than parents and oflPspring assemble in large flocks, and 

 resort to the roofs of houses, the tops of decayed trees, or the sandy 

 beaches of our rivers, from whence they take their departure for the 

 south. They fly in a close body, and thus continue their journey, until 

 they reach the places adapted for their winter residence, when they again 

 resume by day the habits which they exhibit during their summer so- 



