138 CONNECTICUT GEOL. AND NAT. HIST. SURVEY. [BuU. 



bases of the greater coverts chrome-yellow or vermilion, or even 

 more rarely the greater coverts tipped with vermilion. 

 Adult males occasionally complete the fall moult before leaving 

 for the south, specimens in full winter dress having been col- 

 lected by L. B. B. the last of September. 



Piranga rubra rubra (Linnaeus). Summer Tanager. 



Very rare summer visitant. 



Connecticut records. Linsley recorded it from Stratford and 

 New Haven. Merriam^ noted that Shores killed one at Suffield, 

 July 21, 1876; May 23, 1882, Whitneyville, female collected (L. 

 C. S. in company with L. B. B.) ; April 8, 1886, New Haven, 

 male taken (Hooker, in coll. of L. B. B.) ; April 28, 1893, Port- 

 land, a male which had died of exposure taken (Hurlburt, speci- 

 men examined by J. H. S.) f April 27, 1895, Old Saybrook, male 

 taken (J. N. C.).» 



Family HIRUNDINID^. Swallows. 



Progne subis subis (Linnaeus). Purple Martin. 



Formerly an abundant summer resident from May until July; 

 now rapidly decreasing throughout the state. 



Earliest record. New Haven, April 20, 1889; Portland, April 

 4, 1903. 



Latest record. New Haven, Sept. 2, 1885 ; Portland, Sept. 

 19, 1892. 



Nest. Breeds in small colonies in martin-houses, though it 

 has also been noted nesting in a hollow fence rail.* 



Eggs. 4-6; early in June. 



Nesting dates. Earliest record. May 21, 1880, four eggs.* 

 Latest record. June 19, 1898, six eggs (Hill). 



Formerly Purple Martins bred commonly around New Haven 

 and even in the center of the city; but their numbers decreased 

 in the eighties with the multiplication of the English Sparrows, 

 so that they are now seldom seen there except as a rare migrant. 

 In fact the last record in the breeding season for New Haven 



1 Merriam, Birds of Conn,, p. 27. 

 ■' Auk, X, 3, p. 303. 

 ^Auk, xii, 3, p. 306. 

 * 0. and O., v, 6, p. 47. 



