175 



THE WHITE-BELLIED SWALLOW. 



~HlRTTNDO BICOLOK, Vitill. 



PLATE XLVL— Male and Female. 



This Swallow often spends the winter months in the State of Louisiana, 

 resorting frequently to the neighbourhood of the marshes that border Lake 

 Pontchartrain and Bayou St. John, near the city of New Orleans. At the 

 beginning of spring, it spreads widely over the country, and may be observ- 

 ed skimming over the streets of our cities, as well as along the meadows in 

 their neighbourhood. 



Its flight is easy, continued, and capable of being greatly protracted. It is 

 seen sailing, circling, turning, and winding in all directions, during the greater 

 part of the day. Like all other Swallows, it feeds on the wing, unceasingly 

 pursuing insects of various kinds, and in seizing them producing a snapping 

 noise, which may be heard at some distance. So quarrelsome is this Swal- 

 low, that it is almost continually fighting with its own species. Yet they 

 remain in flocks at all seasons, and many pairs are often seen to breed within 

 a short distance of each other. It also attacks the House Swallow, and fre- 

 quently takes possession of its nest. 



It generally prefers the hollow of a tree for its nest, which is of a globular 

 form, composed of slender grasses, and abundantly lined with feathers of 

 various kinds. The eggs are from four to six, of a pure white colour, strong- 

 ly tinged with bluish, occasioned by the transparency of the shell, and are 

 deposited about the end of May. It breeds twice during the season. 



No sooner have the young of the second brood acquired their full power 

 of flight, than parents and offspring assemble in large flocks, and resort to the 

 roofs of houses, the tops of decayed trees, or the sandy beaches of our rivers, 

 from whence they take their departure for the south. They fly in a close 

 body, and thus continue their journey, until they reach the places adapted 

 for their winter residence, when they again resume by day the habits which 

 they exhibit during their summer sojourn in the Middle and Northern 

 States, but collect at night and resort to the sedges and tall plants of the 

 marshes. 



This species is found abundantly dispersed over the Rocky Mountains, 

 and along the Columbia River. I have traced it on our Atlantic coast from 

 the Texas to Labrador, and Dr. Richardson states that it frequents the 

 woody districts of the Fur Countries up to the 68th parallel, but does not 



