416 
SWALLOWS 
KEY TO THE SPECIES 
1. Upperparts with metallic reflections. 
A. Underparts steel-blue. 
a. Feathers on the belly fuscous at the base 611. Purple Martin d. 
b. Feathers on the belly white at the base . 611.1. Cuban Martin d. 
B. Underparts not steel-blue. 
a. Throat chestnut, rufous, or brownish. 
a 1 . Upper tail-coverts the same as the back; tail with white spots. 
613. Barn Swallow. 
a 2 . Upper tail-coverts rufous or buffv; no white in the tail. 
612. Cliff Swallow. 
b. Throat gray or white. 
b 1 . Entire underparts white 614. Tree Swallow. 
b 2 . Throat and breast brownish gray . . 611. Purple Martin $. 
b 3 . Throat, breast, and sides sooty brownish gray. 
611.1 Cuban Martin $. 
2. Upperparts without metallic reflections. 
a. Underparts entirely white 614. Tree Swallow. 
b. Throat and breast brownish gray . 617. Rough-winged Swallow. 
c. Throat and belly white; a brownish gray band across the breast. 
616. Bank Swallow. 
611. Progne subis subis {Linn.). Purple Martin. Ad. d. — Shining 
blue-black; wings and tail duller. Im. d in winter . — Resembles the 9 . I'm. d 
in summer. — Similar to 9 , but bluer above and with a number of adult blue 
feathers scattered through underparts. The ad. d plumage is acquired at 
the first postnuptial molt. Ad. 9 . — Upperparts glossy bluish black, duller 
than in the d\ wings and tail black; throat, breast, and sides brownish gray, 
more or less tipped with white; belly white. L., 8*00; W., 5*80; T., 2*90; 
B. from N., ‘32. 
Range. — N. and S. A., except the Pacific coast region. Breeds from w. 
cen. Alberta, s. Sask., cen. Man., nw. Ont., N. B., and N. S., w. to Mont- 
and Idaho, and s. to the Gulf coast, Fla., Vera Cruz and Jalisco; win- 
ters in Brazil; accidental in Bermuda and the British Isles. 
Washington, rather common S. R., Apl. 1-Sept. 14. Ossining, tolerably 
common S. R., Apl. 27-Sept. 11. Cambridge, formerly locally common S. R., 
Apl. 20-Aug. 25. N. Ohio, common S. R., Apl. 1-Sept. 5. Glen Ellyn, local 
S. R., Mch. 23-Sept. 10. SE. Minn., common S. R., Apl. 1-Sept. 9. 
Nest, of straws, twigs, etc., in houses or gourds erected for the purpose. 
Eggs, 4-5, white, 1*00 x ‘73. Date, Tarboro, N. C., May 19; Cambridge, 
May 30; St. Louis, Mo., May 21. 
The Purple Martin is very common throughout the south, and 
breeds wherever gourds or boxes are erected for its occupation. In 
the Northern States it is a comparatively rare bird of local distribution. 
In Forest and Stream , Vol. XXII, 1884, p. 484, Mr. Otto Widmann, of 
Old Orchard, Missouri, presents an interesting table showing how often 
young Martins are fed. He watched a colony of sixteen pairs of birds 
from 4 a.m. to 8 p.m., during which time the parents visited their off- 
spring 3,277 times, or an average of 205 times for each pair. The males 
made 1,454, the females 1,823 visits. 
1903. Jacobs, J. W. (Waynesburg, Pa.), The Story of a Martin Colony 
(methods of attracting, etc.). — 1906. Taverner, P. A., Wilson Bull., 
XVIII, 87-92 (roost). 
611.1. Progne eryptoleuea Baird. Cuban Martin. Ad. d. — “Similar 
to P. subis, but feathers of ventral region marked beneath surface, with 
