THE BIRDS OF NEW JERSEY. 167 



nests are found under eaves they are of a gourd-shape 

 with the opening near the neck. The nests are very 

 fragile, made of mud with a httle straw and hned with 

 feathers. The birds breed in colonies and raise two broods 

 a year. The eggs are either four or five in number, 

 white with brown spots, and four-fifths by one-half inch 

 in size. 



They breed throughout the whole of North America and 

 spend the winter in Mexico and Central America. They 

 are regular but not very abundant in New Jersey, princi- 

 pally along the coast and in river valleys, some breeding 

 and summering in the southern part of the state, but 

 most abundant during migrations; those that spend the 

 summer in the state arrive about the first of May and 

 leave about the first of September. 



Their cry is nearer a squeak than a twitter. 



They feed on insects, taken on the wing and destroy a 

 great many flies. 



Sirallow, Have. See Cliff Swallow. 



StvalloWj Rough-winged. — This bird very much re- 

 sembles in appearance and habits the Bank Swallow. It 

 is a trifle larger and it does not always nest in banks, but 

 frequently under bridges, railroad trestles and in stone 

 walls. The principal difference between the two is that 

 the Rough-winged is ashy on the under surface, shading 

 gradually to white on the middle of the belly; with no 

 white throat and sharply defined breast band which 

 characterize the Bank Swallow. The old birds have the 

 tips of the outer webs of the outermost wing feather 

 bent backwards and stiffened, forming a series of little 

 hooks, which are very perceptible if the finger is rubbed 

 along the outer edge of the feather towards the tip. 

 Its eggs number from four to eight, are white in color, 

 and three-fourths by one-half an inch in size. They breed 

 from Connecticut and New Jersey southward, arriving 



