sw.\1.1.ows. 391 
     
    
   
   
    
     parts mi.\‘ed with dusky. torehead and throat paler; outer tailst'eathers shorter. 
     
     11.,13'16: W.y 4'IiT: '1‘., 3‘30; 1;. from N., ":4. 
     
     North Amerit-a. north to Greenland and Alaska; breeds through— 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     ll’rI/I‘VI 
     
    
   
   
    
     . out the greater part of its range; winters as t'ar south as southern Brazil. 
     
    
   
   
    
     Washington. eomnion 8. ll, more abundant. '1‘. \'., .\leh. :35 to Sept. Sing 
     
     Sing. common 8. l{., Apl. 17> to Sept. :32. (‘ambridgeY common S. It, but t'ast. 
     
     decreasing. Apl. 20 to Sept. 10. 
     
    

    
     Mrs-t, ot‘ mud and grasses, lined with grasses and feathers. generally on the 
     
     rat'ter ot' a barn or other building. lz'ygs, tour to si.\, white, With numerous 
     
     spots of t'lllllflllUlll‘. oli\'e—. or rut‘ouslrou’n7 generally smaller than those on 
     
     the eggs of l’. [Huff/was, 'T.‘ x ‘54. 
     
    

    
     Barn Swallows nest both in pairs and colonies, and duringr the 
     
     breeding season are more generally distributed than any of our Swal- 
     
     lows. Almost eyery old-fashioned barn with its great doors hospita- 
     
     bly opened is cheered by their sweet call—notes and happy twittering 
     
     song as they dart in and out on their er ‘ands of love. 
     
    

    
     Barn Swallows take first rank among a family of birds famous for 
     
     their power of flight. While. their relatives are circling about feeding 
     
     on insects in the air above. they capture their prey nearer the ground, 
     
     skimming low over the fields, turning quiekly to right or left, up or 
     
     down, and pursuing their erratic course with marvelous ease and grace. 
     
    
   
   
    
     314. Tachycineta. bicolor ( Weill.) Tatar: S\\'.u.t.ow; \VntTE- 
     
     BELLIEI) Sw.\1.1.ow. _1:Z.wl.'pper parts steel—blue or steel—green; under parts 
     
     pure white; outer tail-feathers somewhat longer than the middle ones. 1m. 
     
     —L'pper parts brownish gray; under parts pure white. L., 5‘90; W.. 470; 
     
     '1‘., 2'35; 1%. from N., ‘22. 
     
    

    
     Rang/(niNorth America, north to Labrador and Alaska ; breeds locally 
     
     throughout its range; winters from South t‘arolina southward. 
     
    

    
     Washington, eonmion T. \'., Apl. i to May :5; July 10 to Sept. Sing 
     
     Sing, common ’1'. V., .\pl. 4 to May 2'}; Aug. 4 to Oet. 16. Cambridge, S. 1%., 
     
     formerly common, now eommon only as a migrant. Apl. 5 to (let. 12. 
     
    

    
     Me, of coarse grasses and feathers, in a hollow tree or bird—box. Eyys, 
     
     four to seven, white, '74 x 55. . 
     
    
   
   
    
     While our eastern Barn and Rave Swallows have abandoned their 
     
     primitive methods of nesting in caves or beneath cliffs. and the Bank 
     
     Swallows still adhere to the customs of their ancestors, Tree Svallows 
     
     are passing through a transition period in their history. Some accept 
     
     the houses or boxes erected by man as substitutes for the holes in trees 
     
     or stumps which others still use. 
     
    

    
     Near New York (-ity they are the first birds to flock after the nest- 
     
     ing s‘ason, and they begin to gather in our marshes as early as July 
     
     1. Their numbers rapidly iner’ase. and the maximum of abundanee 
     
     is rearhed about August 1:”). when they outnumhe ‘ all other Svallows 
     
    
   
   
    
     together by at least three to one. They return to their roosts in the 
     
     0‘) 
     
     ~~