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 1 know of (near South Orange, New Jersey) have been 

 used during years past for nesting purposes ; this year I 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 cryptbleuca 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- 



f rons (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 — 6.01 . 



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 



