Page:Birdcraft-1897.djvu/202

Tree Swallow: Tachycineta bicolor.

White bellied Swallow.

Plate 24. Fig. 1.

Length: 6 inches.

Male and Female: Entire upper parts iridescent green, inclined to black on wings and tail. Under parts soft white. Bill black; feet dark. Female dull.

Song: A warbling twitter.

Season: April to the middle of September. A few stragglers remain later.

Breeds: Irregularly through range.

Nest: In dead trees, of@n in great colonies; here I have seen two or three pairs occupying old Woodpecker holes in telegraph poles.

Eggs: 4-9, usually 6, pure white

Range: North America at large, from the Fur Countries southward, in winter, to the West Indies and Central America.

She is here, she is here, the Swallow! Fair seasons bringing, fair years to follow ! Her belly is white, Her back black as night. - Greek: Swallow Song, J. A. SYMoNDS, Trans.

The Tree, or White-bellied Swallow seems nearly to correspond with the bird which was the herald of spring in Greece; for though our Swallow is a beautiful green above, except when at close range or when the light glances across its feathers, it appears black. The Tree Swallow, in times before the country was inhabited by white men, like many of its family, lived in hollow trees, but it now nests in Martin boxes and other convenient nooks, though it may be still found colonizing in old sycamores and willows.

If you live near the sand dunes or by a strip of beach edged with scrub bushes, go out and watch the gyrations of these lovely Swallows before the fall migration, the first part of September; you may also see the Bank Swallows or Sand Martins gather at the same time.

The Tree Swallow always seeks the vicinity of water at the time of the migration, probably because insects are more plentiful in such places. This has led people to form the

129