SONG-BIRDS. Swallows 



Tree Swallow: Tachycineta bicolor. 



White-bellied Swallow. 



Plate 24. Fig. 1. 

 Length : 6 inches. 

 Male and Female: Entire upper parts iridescent green, inclined to 



black on wings and tail. Under parts soft white. Bill black ; 



feet dark. Female dull. 

 Song : A warbling twitter. 

 Season : April to the middle of September. A few stragglers remain 



later. 

 Breeds : Irregularly through range. 

 Nest : In dead trees, often in great colonies ; here I have seen two or 



three pairs occupying old Woodpecker holes in telegraph poles. 

 Eggs : 4-9, usually 6, pure white. 

 Mange : North America at large, from the Fur Countries southward, 



in winter, to the West Indies and Central America. 



She is here, she is here, the Swallow ! 

 Fair seasons bringing, fair years to follow ! 



Her belly is white, 



Her back black as night. 



— Greek Swallow Song, J. A. Stmonds, Trans. 



The Tree, or White-bellied Swallow seems nearly to cor- 

 respond with the bird which was the herald of spring in 

 Greece ; for though our Swallow is a beautiful green above, 

 except when at close range or when the light glances across 

 its feathers, it appears black. The Tree Swallow, in times 

 before the country was inhabited by white men, like many 

 of its family, lived in hollow trees, but it now nests in Martin 

 boxes and other convenient nooks, though it may be still 

 found colonizing in old sycamores and willows. 



If you live near the sand dunes or by a strip of beach 

 edged with scrub bushes, go out and watch the gyrations of 

 these lovely Swallows before the fall migration, the first 

 part of September ; you may also see the Bank Swallows or 

 Sand Martins gather at the same time. 



The Tree Swallow always seeks the vicinity of water at 

 the time of the migration, probably because insects are more 

 plentiful in such places. This has led people to form the 

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