i8 
TWENTY-SIX COMMON BIRDS. 
mate. In the fall the scarlet of the male is replaced by # the olive 
and greenish yellow of the female and young, but he may be dis¬ 
tinguished by his black wings. The Tanagers arrive in May, and 
the pair soon select the site for their nest, generally in oaks, but 
occasionally in orchard trees or evergreens. The nest, loosely 
built of straw and twigs, is generally placed from ten to thirty 
feet from the ground and contains three or four eggs of a light 
greenish blue, marked with brown and lilac. The Tanager’s 
food consists chiefly of insects. The song resembles that of a 
Robin, but is much hoarser. The Tanagers leave us in early 
September and pass outside the limits of the United States to spend 
the winter. 
BARN SWALLOW. 3. 
[hirundo erythrogastra.] 
This swallow is easily distinguished from its relatives by its 
deeply forked tail. The female is less brightly colored than the male, 
and the young lack the long outer tail feathers. The Barn Swal¬ 
lows arrive in New England toward the end of April, and begin 
to build in May their nests of mud and grass, familiar to every 
farmer’s boy. These are placed on the rafters in the interior 
of barns, less frequently under the eaves, and contain from four 
to six eggs, white in color, marked with purplish and brown. Two 
broods are often raised. There, is no more pleasing sight than a 
wide barn window, or open door, through which parents constantly 
pass to their nests, while others twitter from the ridgepole or neigh¬ 
boring wires. The flight of this Swallow is extraordinarily grace¬ 
ful and swift; after the young have learned the use of their wings, 
the parents commonly feed them on the wing. An enormous 
number of insects are daily destroyed by these birds. In early 
September the Swallows depart, after gathering in great flocks be¬ 
fore the southward flight. Most of them winter beyond the limits 
of the United States. 
