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1,500 miles. At intermediate points it was noted at Emporia, Kaus., 

 April 11; Eichmond, Kans., April 15; Unadilla, JSTebr., April 28, and 

 Men ok en, Dak., May 13. Nearer the Mississippi Eiver it was seen at 

 Abbeville, La,, March 15; Pierce City, Mo., April 9; Saint Louis, Mo., 

 April 11; Paris, 111., April 12; Hennepin, 111., April 17; the southern 

 edge of Wisconsin, northern Illinois, and the southern edge of Iowa, 

 April 19; central Iowa April 22 and 23; central Wisconsin April 29; 

 but no part of Minnesota was reached until after the cold wave had left, 

 about the middle of May. In the fall of 1885, at Milwaukee, Wis., the 

 last Barn Swallow was seen August 31. Great numbers passed Saint 

 Louis, Mo., September 8 and 9, and the last disappeared September 14. 

 The note which I put into the Ornithologist and Oologist for April, 

 1884, page 37, concerning the commonness of this species during the 

 winter in southern Louisiana, was not correct. Mr. Edwards, of Abbe- 

 ville, La., informs me that it is seldom found there in winter, unless per- 

 haps when a long period of warm weather occurs, which happens some- 

 times in December. But, however that may be, it enters the United 

 States very early. 



614. Tachycineta bicolor (Vieill.). [155.] White-bellied Swallow. 



Breeds abundantly in Manitoba and most parts of the Mississippi 

 Valley. This is the only swallow which winters regularly and abun- 

 dantly in the United States. From its winter quarters in the Southern 

 States it spreads north the earliest of its tribe. Indeed, so early is its 

 migration that it is often overtaken by snow-storms, before which 

 it usually retreats, though sometimes it remains to brave the elements. 

 At Gainesville, Tex., in the spring of 1884 it did not arrive until April 

 30, though in former years it has been known to come by March 3. 

 Kearer the Mississippi Eiver, migration must have started early in 

 March, probably when the warm wave set in, March 8 and March 9. A 

 single bird was seen at Burlington, Iowa, March 10, but the regular 

 advance occurred about two weeks later. If records of first arrivals 

 are to be relied upon they show that the migration of this swallow took 

 place much earlier east of the Mississippi than west of it. In Illinois 

 and Wisconsin the records of "firsts" were : At Tampico and Chicago, 

 111., March 24 and 26; at Lake Mills, Wis., April 4; and at West 

 DePere and Green Bay, Wis., April 6. West of the Mississippi the 

 first was reported from Ooralville, Iowa, April 19, and Lanesboro, Minn., 

 April 27. Two days later the first came in hundreds to Heron Lake, 

 Minn., when the sun shone in the afternoon after a cold rainy forenoon. 

 The first reached Pine Bend, Minn., May 2, and Frazee City, Minn., 

 May 2G. Still farther west migration was earlier than along the central 

 line. At Argusville, Dak., it was seen May 5; and at Oak Point, 

 Manitoba, May 3. 



In the spring of 18S5 the same warm wave which brought the Mar- 

 tins to the Upper Mississippi Valley induced many White-bellied Swal- 

 lows to visit Missouri and Illinois. During the last two days of March 



