♦12 



NESTS AND EGGS OF 



This is the White-bellied Swallow, 

 which breeds in .all suitable localitiea 

 throughout its North American range. 

 The nesting season is in May, June and 

 July. Its favorite resorts are in the vi- 

 $;inity of ponds, marshes and rivers, and 

 even in its migrations it is seldom seen far 

 away from running water. In these places 

 lofty, leafless tree-trunks are its nesting 

 sites — in the old excavations of woodpeck- 

 ers, natural cavities, etc. Sometimes it 

 nests in cliffs or buildings. In the East- 

 ern States this bird frequently nests in 

 bird-boxes. M. C. S. Shick, of Sea Isle City, 

 New Jersey, says that a pair had taken 

 possession of a box which he had put up 

 in his yard. The materials used in nest- 

 building are grasses and straw, thickly 

 lined with feathers; Mr. Walter B. Bry- 

 ant found a nest of this bird under the pro- 

 jecting and (iecayed deck of a lumber 

 lighter, raodred at Oakland (Cal.) harbor. 

 From four to seven, and occasionally nine, * 

 pure white eggs are laid. The average size 

 of ten eggs is .75x.53. Mr. Edson A. Mc- 

 1" Millan informs m$ that he took from a 



single nest in regular succession no less than five sets, each containing five eggs. 



This was in the Adirondack Mountain region, beginning with set No. 1 the first 



part of June. 



en. Tkee SwAtLow (i*rbm Audubon). 



615. VIOLET-GREEIT SWALLOW. Tachyeimta thalassina (Swains.) Geog. 

 Dist. — ^Western. United States, from the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific; south in 

 winter to Guatemala. . 



This lovely Swallow is common from tho CentraJ Plains of the United States to 

 the Pacific coast. It breeds abundantly in California, Oregon and Washington Ter- 

 ritory. The most characteristic Swallow of the pine regions of Arizona, an.d is also 

 found in considerable abundance in Colorado, nesting in all suitable localities, and, 

 like the Eave Swallow, usually in colonies. It nests in knot-holes of oak and other 

 deciduous trees and in the deserted excavations of woodpeckers, and more recently 

 it has been found breeding under the ea,ves of houses, like the Cliff Swallow. The 

 nest is made of dry grasses, lined with a thick mass of feathers. This species has 

 also been found nesting in holes in banks. Four or five pure white eggs are laid; 

 average size, .74x.52 inches. 



[615. 1.] BAHAMAS SWALLOW. Callichelidon cyaneovirdis Bryant. Geog. 

 Dist. — Bahamas. Accidental on the dry Tortugas, Florida. « 



In all respects the habits, nests and eggs of this species are similar to those of 

 the Violet-green Swallow. The eggs, however, are far from being common in col- 

 lections. 



