Part 38

The slow, crawling movements and lazy, rather harsh, warbling song of this bird strongly suggest the tropics, its ancestral home. Its song is much like a Robin’s, but it is more alto and is harsher and lazier, and its call-note is a plainly given chi-perr, which is often more frequently heard in the damp woodlands than any other bird-note of midsummer. The intensity of the male Scarlet Tanager’s full plumage fairly takes the breath. At a distance, the dull female may suggest a vireo or a large warbler, but her movements are always characteristic of this family.

PURPLE MARTIN Progne subis subis (Linnæus)

Description.—Larger than English Sparrow; wings long and pointed; tail moderately long and noticeably forked. Adult male: Rich purplish and bluish black, the lores velvety black; feet and bill black; eyes dark brown. Adult female: Blackish glossed with blue above; forehead, underparts, and imperfect collar around neck, gray; belly whitish. Immature birds: Like the adult female. Length: 8 inches.

Range in Pennsylvania.—A fairly common but extremely local migrant and summer resident from early or mid-April to mid-August and occasionally later.

Nest.—Made of leaves and grasses in a cavity in a tree, crevice in a building, or in a bird-house, from 12 to 40 feet from the ground. Eggs: 3 to 7, white.

Spluttering notes, some of which resemble an old-fashioned music-box, announce the return of the Martins to their accustomed nesting quarters. Gracefully, the glossy birds sail about, calling to each other, capturing insects, and perching near or upon their nest. They have almost altogether given up nesting in hollow trees and prefer to use bird-boxes, it appears, though in such towns as Waynesburg, Ligonier, and Coudersport they nest in any cranny among the buildings which they can find. Martins are very fond of dragonflies; they have the interesting habit of bringing green leaves into the nest during summer, either as new lining for the nests, to make the young birds cooler, or for some other reason. In late summer they band together, sometimes in tremendous flocks, depart for some congregating point along the New Jersey or Delaware coast, or elsewhere, and prepare for the journey to their South American winter home. Purple Martins are temperamental in choosing their nesting quarters. Certain towns do not please them, and they will not, apparently, nest; in other towns they nest anywhere.

CLIFF SWALLOW; EAVES SWALLOW Petrochelidon albifrons albifrons (Rafinesque)

Description.—About the size of an English Sparrow, but with long wings; tail of moderate length, not noticeably forked; sexes similar. Adults: Forehead buffy white; crown and back glossy steel-blue, the latter obscurely streaked with white; cheeks, ear-patches, chin, and throat rich reddish brown; back of neck, narrow collar, and underparts grayish; belly white; wings and tail blackish, glossed with blue; rump pale reddish or orange-brown, very noticeable in flight. Young: Dull grayish brown, the rump noticeably rusty though not as plainly so as in adult. Length: 6 inches.

Range in Pennsylvania.—A fairly common migrant throughout and extremely local summer resident, chiefly in the northern counties, from early or mid-April to early or mid-September.

Nest.—A bottle-shaped structure of mud, lined with grasses and feathers, the funnel-shaped entrance to the nest pointed outward and downward. It is built under the eaves of a barn or other building, always on the outside, or on a cliff or bridge abutment. Usually many nests are found together. Eggs: 4 to 7, white, or creamy white, speckled with reddish brown.

Look for the buffy rump-patch of this slow-flying, graceful swallow, which gathers mud for its nest without alighting on the ground and whose conversational twitterings sound like the squeaks produced by rubbing a piece of wet rubber with the finger. In early spring and during later summer, several kinds of swallows will be found together in the migratory flocks. Cliff Swallows are easily driven from their nests by English Sparrows or Starlings; they will not use bird-boxes put out for them.

BARN SWALLOW Hirundo rustica erythrogastris Boddaert

Description.—Smaller and slenderer, but longer than an English Sparrow, with long, pointed wings and very long, deeply forked tail which is noticeable in flight or while the bird is perched on a wire. Adult male: Forehead, chin, and throat rich reddish brown; line through eye and band across breast blackish; upperparts blackish, highly glossed with steel-blue, the inner margins of the tail-feathers marked with white spots; rest of underparts and wing-linings pale reddish brown. Adult female: Similar, but duller. Young birds: Almost white below and with only moderately long, though noticeably forked tails. Length: 7 inches.

Range in Pennsylvania.—An abundant migrant and summer resident from mid-April to late August or early September.

Nest.—A cup of mud, lined with feathers and a few grasses, built upon a rafter on the inside of a barn or other building, usually in a more or less inaccessible spot. Eggs: 3 to 7, white, spotted with brown.

Every farmer boy loves the cheerful swallows which twitter so amiably and circle so tirelessly about the barn, capturing insects above nearby pools and darting through the doors, or sometimes through mere cracks in the boards, so unerringly. These birds have good reason to be popular, for they are not only beautiful and companionable neighbors, but they are distinctly beneficial because of their capturing of myriads of flying insects which they eat or feed to their ravenous young. I once saw a blacksnake at the nest of a Barn Swallow, high on an upper rafter in a barn-loft, and it had eaten two of the young before I interrupted its meal.

TREE SWALLOW; WHITE-BELLIED SWALLOW Iridoprocne bicolor (Vieillot)

Description.—Smaller than an English Sparrow; tail of moderate length and not deeply forked. Adult male: Upperparts glossy blue-green, brightest on crown and back, less colorful on wings and tail; entire underparts pure white. Female: Similar, but duller. Young birds: Like the female. Length: 6 inches.

Range in Pennsylvania.—A fairly common migrant throughout, but a rather rare and local summer resident in northern counties and at high altitudes, from early April to late August. As a nesting bird, it is almost always found near a body of water.

Nest.—Of grasses and other vegetable matter, lined with feathers, placed in a cavity, an old woodpecker nest, or in a bird-box, usually from 15 to 60 feet from the ground, in a tree at the edge of a lake or in the water. Eggs: 3 to 7, white.

The swallows are easily distinguished once their outstanding characters are firmly fixed in the mind. This bird has white, absolutely unmarked underparts—the Bank Swallow’s white breast is crossed with a brownish band; the Rough-wing’s throat and breast are gray. I have seen Tree Swallows nesting at Conneaut Lake, Crawford County, and at several of the lakes in the mountains of northeastern Pennsylvania.

BANK SWALLOW Riparia riparia riparia (Linnæus)

Other Name.—Sand Martin.

Description.—Smallest of the swallow family, considerably lighter and slenderer than an English Sparrow; sexes similar. Adults: Grayish brown above; wings and tail noticeably darker than back in flight; underparts white; breast crossed by a narrow, dull brown band, distinctly noticeable when the bird is at rest; tail not deeply forked. Length: About 5¼ inches.

Range in Pennsylvania.—Formerly found at several points during summer where it does not nest now, due to pollution of the streams. It is a fairly common migrant and local summer resident from mid-April to early or mid-September.

Nest.—Of grasses and rootlets, lined with feathers, placed at the end of a long burrow which is usually several feet above high-water-mark and sometimes 5 to 6 feet long. Eggs: 3 to 6, white or creamy white.

This little swallow usually nests in large colonies. It has a graceful, fluttering flight, much less direct and rapid than that of the somewhat larger, though amazingly similar, Rough-winged Swallow, which occurs in many parts of Pennsylvania where the Bank Swallow does not nest. In identifying this species, take care to observe closely the brown band across the breast and the light brown back which contrasts with the blacker wings and tail.

ROUGH-WINGED SWALLOW Stelgidopteryx serripennis serripennis (Audubon)