this typical nest down to plain mud platforms, 
but are all warmly lined with grass and 
feathers. In some localities, cliffs resemble 
bee hives, they having thousands of these nests 
side by side and in tiers. Their eggs are 
creamy white spotted with reddish brown; 
size .80 x .55 with great variations. Data.— 
Rockford, Minn., June 12, 1890. Nest made 
of mud, lined with feathers; placed under the 
eaves of a freight house. 
[612.1.] Cuban Cliff Swallow. Petro- 
chelidon fulva. 
Range. — West Indies and Central America ; 
accidental on Florida Keys. 
613. Barn Swallow. Hirundo erythro- 
gastra. 
PERCHING BIRDS 
Tree Swallow 
Barn Swallow 
Range. — Whole of North America; winters 
south to South America. 
This Swallow is the most beautiful and grace- 
ful of the family, and is a familiar sight to everyone, skimming over the mead- 
ows and ponds in long graceful sweeps, curves and turns, its lengthened outer 
tail feathers streaming behind. Throughout their range, they nest in barns, 
sheds or any building where they will not be often disturbed, making their nests 
of mud and attaching them to the rafters ; they are warmly lined with feathers 
and the outside is rough, caused by the pellets which they place on the exterior. 
Before the advent of civil- 
ized man, they attached their 
nests to the sides of caves, 
in crevices among rocks and 
in hollow trees, as they do 
now in some localities. Their 
eggs cannot be distinguished 
from those of the Cliff Swal- White 
low. Data. — Penikese Is., Mass., July 2, 1900. 
Nest on beam in sheep shed; made of pellets of 
mud, lined with feathers. 
6 14. Tree Swallow; White-bellied Swal 
low. Iridoprocne bicolor. 
Range. — Whole of temperate North America, 
breeding from middle United States northward; 
winters in the Gulf States and along the Mexi- 
can border and southward. 
This vivacious and active species is as well 
known as the last, and nests about habitations 
on the outskirts of cities and in the country. 
373 
