Nests in Buildings, Bridges, Walls, Etc, 
The nests are built of any available material, and are gen- 
erally placed in bird boxes or in buildings; formerly they nested 
in hollow trees, and perhaps they continue doing so in more 
remote districts. 
The eggs, numbering 4 to 5, are white. Size—.98 x .73. 
These birds are gradually leaving their old resorts. What is 
the cause of their so doing is hard to say; some people attribute 
it to the increasing numbers of the English sparrows. Some 
places that I know of (near South Orange, New Jersey) have been 
used during years past for nesting purposes; this year | was told 
the birds arrived about the usual time; after stopping for two 
days they left, and have not been seen again; but in this place 
the English sparrow had been carefully killed off, so that there 
were but few left. 
The breeding season begins about the middle of May. 
611. 1. Cuban Martin: Progne cryptoleuca Baird. 
Very similar to the purple martin, but smaller, and with 
narrower tail feathers. 
Breeding Range—Southern Florida. 
Nest and nesting habits described as identical, except that it 
breeds in hollow trees as well as in buildings, and the eggs are 
slightly smaller. 
” 
612. Cliff Swallow; Eave Swallow: Petrochelidon luni- 
frons (Say.) 
Adult—Upper parts dark steel blue; forehead nearly white; tail 
short and scarcely pointed; throat chestnut; breast gray 
shading into white on the belly; a blue-gray patch on upper 
part of breast; rump pale rufous or chestnut. Length—6.o1. 
Breeding Range—Throughout North America, north of Florida, 
breeding locally. 
The nest is built of pellets of mud, with sometimes small 
bits of straw and grass; the lining is of grass and feathers; it is a 
queer-shaped nest, in the form of a retort, with the neck more or 
less formed, and is fastened beneath the eaves, or on the rafters 
of a building; in remote districts it is attached to cliffs or em- 
88 
