. A guide to the birds of New England and eastern New York; containing a key for each season and short descriptions of over 250 species, with particular reference to their appearance in the field . farmsteads ; these colo-nies are often a mile or so apart,whereas the Barn Swallow in-habits almost every outbuildingalong the road. Toward the endof May, Eave Swallows are seenhovering daintily over mud-puddles, or flying with a pelletof mud to their half-finishednests. These are composed ofmud, and are gray when dry ;they are placed outside of thebarn, directly under the eaves,and are often retort
. A guide to the birds of New England and eastern New York; containing a key for each season and short descriptions of over 250 species, with particular reference to their appearance in the field . farmsteads ; these colo-nies are often a mile or so apart,whereas the Barn Swallow in-habits almost every outbuildingalong the road. Toward the endof May, Eave Swallows are seenhovering daintily over mud-puddles, or flying with a pelletof mud to their half-finishednests. These are composed ofmud, and are gray when dry ;they are placed outside of thebarn, directly under the eaves,and are often retort-shaped, thatis, furnished with a neck bentaway from the round body ofthe nest. The sitting female oftenFig. 35. Cliff Swallow ^ , .-,-,-, i thrusts out her head, showing the cream-ivhite frontlet, and in early July, as the parents fly up to the nests from below, or cling to the entrance, they show the reddish-hroivn rump. Purple Martin. Progne Ad. ^. —Entire body glossy blue-black; wings and tail 9. — Upper parts, wings, and tail brown, glossed on the headand back with purple; throat and forehead gray; breast brown;belly whitish. Nest, in martin boxes. Eggs, SCAELET TANAGER 147 The Purple Martin is a summer resident throughout NewYork and New England, but it is extremely local, and ap-parently growing more rare. Martin boxes set up on tallpoles are an interesting feature of many villages and farm-steads, but through large sections of the country, most ofBerkshire County, Mass., for instance, Martins are entirelyabsent. They seem to have a decided preference for thevalleys of slow streams, where they may hawk over exten-sive meadows and sheets of water. They return to theirboxes toward the end of April, and leave New Englandbefore September. Their loud, deep voices and the rich blue-black of themales make them attractive neighbors. They spend muchtime sitting on the doorsteps, so to speak, of their houses,— the ledge before the entrance to the
Size: 1099px × 2273px
Photo credit: © Reading Room 2020 / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, booksubjectbirds, bookyear1904
