Hirundo horreorum, Barton.

BARN SWALLOW.

Sp. Char. Tail very deeply forked; outer feathers several inches longer than the inner, very narrow towards the end. Above glossy blue, with concealed white in the middle of the back. Throat chestnut; rest of lower part reddish-white, not conspicuously different. A steel-blue collar on the upper part of the breast, interrupted in the middle. Tail-feathers with a white spot near the middle, on the inner web. Female with the outer tail-feather not quite so long. Length, 6.90 inches; wing, 5.00; tail, 4.50.

Hab. Whole of the United States; north to Fort Rae, Slave Lake; Greenland; south in winter to Central America and West Indies; Panama (Lawr.); Plateau of Mexico (breeds, Sumichrast); Veragua, Chiriqui (Salvin). Not found at Cape St. Lucas. South America?

In young birds, the frontal chestnut band is maller and less distinct.

It is still a question whether a South American resident species (H. erythrogaster) is identical or not. The only two specimens of the latter (21,007 and 21,008, Vermejo, Feb., 1860; C. Wood) have a very much less violaceous upper plumage than North American examples, the blue above having even a greenish tinge. They are moulting, unfortunately, so that they cannot be satisfactorily compared; except in the respect pointed out, however, they appear to be identical with North American examples.

Many specimens of H. horreorum show a continuous collar, but then the two lateral crescents are but just barely connected. In No. 2,191 ♀, Carlisle, Penn., May, there is an indication of as broad a collar as in the European species; but the area, though sharply bounded, is not uniformly black, being much mixed centrally with light rufous.

Specimens of H. horreorum from both coasts of North America appear to be perfectly identical.

Habits. No one of all our North American birds is more widely diffused, more generally abundant, wherever found, or better known, than the graceful and familiar Barn Swallow. And no one is more universally or more deservedly a favorite. Found throughout North America from Florida to Greenland and from ocean to ocean, and breeding nearly throughout the same wide extent, its distribution is universal. Venturing with a confiding trust into our crowded cities, and building their elaborate nests in the porches of the dwellings, as well as entering in greater numbers the barns and farm-buildings of the agriculturists and placing themselves under the protection of man, they rarely fail to win for themselves the interest and good-will they so well deserve. Innocent and blameless in their lives, there is no evil blended with the many benefits they confer on man. They are his ever-constant benefactor and friend, and are never known, even indirectly, to do him any injury. For their daily food, and for that of their offspring, they destroy the insects that annoy his cattle, injure his fruit-trees, sting his fruit, or molest his person. Social, affectionate, and kind in their intercourse with each other; faithful and devoted in the discharge of their conjugal and parental duties; exemplary, watchful, and tender alike to their own family and to all their race; sympathizing and benevolent when their fellows are in any trouble,—these lovely and beautiful birds are bright examples to all, in their blameless and useful lives.

Mr. Ridgway found this Swallow a very common species in all the rocky localities in the vicinity of water, but not so numerous as the lunifrons.

In May it was particularly numerous in the neighborhood of Pyramid Lake, where its nests were built among the “tufa domes,” attached to the roofs of the caves. It was seldom that more than one or two pairs were found together.

In July he found a nest that contained young, in a cave among the limestone cliffs of the cañons of the East Humboldt Mountains, at an altitude of about eight thousand feet. Many of their nests were found in May, in the caves of the tufa rocks, on the shores of Pyramid Lake, as well as on the islands in the lake.

Mr. Hepburn writes that he found this Swallow widely diffused along the Pacific coast, as far to the north as Sitka. In California he found it very local, common near the coast, rare inland. Its earliest appearance is March 26, the great bulk leave in August, and the last stragglers are gone before the last of September. They breed in caves and crevices of rocks, and also under the sides of the wooden bridges that span the gullies at San Francisco. Two broods are hatched in a year. The earliest egg was found on the 30th of April, but they are usually a fortnight later. The second laying is about the first of July, and no eggs were found later than the 4th of August. It is at all times quite common to find nests with fresh eggs close to others with half-grown young.

Professor Reinhardt records its occurrence in Greenland, at Fiskenæsset and at Nenontalik.

The natural breeding-places of these birds, before the settlement of the country, were caves, overhanging rocky cliffs, and similar localities. Swallow Cave, at Nahant, was once a favorite place of resort, and in the unsettled portions of the country they are only found in such situations. As the country is settled they forsake these places for the buildings of the farm, and their numbers rapidly increase. In the fur countries and in all the Pacific coast, they still breed in and inhabit caves, chiefly among limestone rocks.

Where the opportunity offers, they prefer to place their nests on the horizontal rafters of barns. Built in this situation, the nests have an average height and a breadth of about five inches. The cavity is two inches deep and three inches wide, at the rim. The nests are constructed of distinct layers of mud, from ten to twelve in number, and each separated by strata of fine dry grasses. These layers are each made up of small pellets of mud, that have been worked over by the birds and placed one by one in juxtaposition until each layer is complete. These mud walls are an inch in thickness. When they are completed, they are warmly stuffed with fine soft grasses and lined with downy feathers. When built against the side of a house, a strong foundation of mud is first constructed, upon which the nest is erected. In this case the nest is much more elongate in shape and more strongly made.

A striking peculiarity of these nests is frequently an extra platform, built against, but distinct from the nest itself, designed as a roosting-place for the parents, used by one during incubation at night or when not engaged in procuring food, and by both when the young are large enough to occupy the whole nest. One of these I found to be a separate structure from the nest, but of similar materials, three inches in length and one and a half in breadth. This nest had been for several years occupied by the same pair, though none of their offspring ever returned to the same roof to breed in their turn. Yet in some instances as many as fifty pairs have been known to occupy the rafters of the same barn.

The wonderful activity of this bird, its rapidity and powers of flight, are too striking a peculiarity of this species not to be mentioned. During their stay with us, from May to September, from morn to night they seem to be ever in motion, especially so before incubation, or after their young have flown. The rapidity of their tortuous evolutions, their intricate, involved, and repeated zigzag flights, are altogether indescribable, and must be witnessed to be appreciated. Wilson estimated that these birds fly at the rate of a mile a minute, but any one who has witnessed the ease and celerity with which they seem to delight in overtaking, passing, and repassing a train of cars moving at the rate of thirty miles an hour must realize that this estimate is far from doing full justice to their real speed.

The song of this Swallow, especially when on the wing, is very pleasing and sprightly. It is a succession of twittering notes uttered with great rapidity and animation. When alighted, their notes are delivered more slowly and with much less animation.

The attention of these birds to each other when sitting upon the nest, and to their young when hatched, is unremitting. The estimated numbers of small insects they collect for their own consumption and that of their nestlings is almost incredible. When the young are old enough to leave their nests the manœuvres of the parents to draw them out, and their assistance to them when practising their first short flights, are among the most curious and interesting scenes one can witness in his ornithological experiences; but space would fail me were I to attempt their details.

The number of the young is from four to six, and there are often two broods in a season. As soon as the second brood can fly, or early in September, they all prepare to leave. They usually collect in flocks of from one to several hundred, and depart within a few days of their first assembling. Large flocks pass along the coast of Massachusetts, from the north and east, early in September, often uniting as they meet, and passing rapidly on.

Their eggs have a ground-color of clear white, with a roseate tint when unblown. They are marked with spots of reddish and purplish-brown, varying in size and number, and chiefly at the larger end. They are smaller and more elongate than those of the lunifrons, and the markings are usually finer. Their greatest length is .94 of an inch, their least .75, and their mean .78. Their mean breadth is .56 of an inch, the greatest .62, and the least .50.

Tachycineta, Cab. Mus. Hein. 1850, 1851, 48. (Type, H. thalassina, Sw.)

Gen. Char. Nostrils lateral, overhung or bordered internally by incumbent membrane. Tarsi with the tibial joint covered by overhanging feathers, adherent a short distance along inner face, about equal to middle toe without claw. Lateral toes equal. Adhesion of basal joint of middle toe variable. Tail emarginate only, or slightly forked; fork not exceeding half an inch in depth. Color blue or green above, with or without metallic gloss; with or without white rump. Entirely white beneath. Nest usually in holes of trees or rocks; eggs pure white, unspotted.

Of this section there are two North American species, differing as follows, both being green above and white beneath:—

Species.

Plumage above soft and velvety without metallic gloss. Sides of head, space around eyes, and whole under parts, white; with the feathers all plumbeous at base. Female duller in plumage. Young with bases of throat-feathers gray to roots.

T. thalassina. Above velvety-green, with various shades and tinges of violet and purple.

Plumage above compact, and with rich green metallic gloss. Sides of head to line with eyes like its upper part. Beneath white; the feathers of chin and throat, and generally of crissum, white to base. A concealed spot in jugulum. Female duller. Young with bases of throat-feathers pure white to roots.

T. bicolor. Above metallic-green. Inside of wings and axillars ash-color.

Hirundo bicolor, Vieill.

WHITE-BELLIED SWALLOW.

Hirundo bicolor, Vieill. Ois. Am. Sept. I, 1807, 61, pl. xxxi.—Aud. Orn. Biog. I, pl. xcviii.—Ib. Birds Am. I, pl. xlvi.—Cassin.—Brewer, N. Am. Oöl. I, 1857, 100, pl. iv, fig. 47 (eggs).—Lembeye, Aves de Cuba, 1850, 46, lam. vii, fig. 2.—Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 310.—Lord, Pr. R. A. Inst. Woolwich, IV, 1864, 15 (Br. Columbia; nesting).—Jones, Bermudas, 34 (Sept. 22, 1849).—Cooper & Suckley, P. R. R. Rep. XII, II, 184.—Dall & Bannister, 279 (Alaska).—Samuels, 257.—Cooper, Orn. Cal. 1, 1870, 106. Petrochelidon bicolor, Sclater, P. Z. S. 1857, 201.—Ib. 1859, 364 (Xalapa).—Sclater & Salvin, Ibis, 1859, 13 (Guatemala). Tachycineta bicolor, Cab. Mus. Hein. 1850, 48; Jour. Orn. 1856, 4 (Cuba).—Gundlach, JJour. Orn. 1861, 330 (common in Cuba). Hirundo (Tachycineta) bicolor, Baird, Rev. Am. B. 1864, 296. Hirundo viridis, Wils. Hirundo leucogaster, Stephens.

Sp. Char. Glossy metallic bluish-green above; entirely white beneath. Female duller in color. Length, 6.25 inches; wing, 5.00; tail, 2.65.

Hab. Whole United States, and north to Slave Lake, south to Guatemala; Bermuda; Cuba, common in winter. Breeds on table-lands of Mexico.

Habits. This Swallow has quite an extended distribution. Found throughout North America in the seasons of its migrations, or breeding, it is only a little less restricted in its area of nesting than the preceding species. It breeds from latitude 38° to high Arctic regions, and is also resident throughout the year in the Plateau of Mexico. It is abundant in winter in the West Indies, in Central America, and in Northern South America. It is a common bird about Boston, where it replaces the Purple Martin, and is even more abundant in the British Provinces. Dr. Cooper also found it a very common species in the western portions of Washington Territory, where it was invariably found to breed in hollow trees. In California he states it to be a more or less constant resident, a few wintering in the southern portion of the State. He met with it both at San Diego and at Stockton, in February. He regards them as the hardiest of the Swallows, preferring the coast and the mountain-tops for their residence in that State. At Santa Cruz five or six pairs in 1866 were resident through the winter, where he saw them in January during the coldest of the season. They roosted in the knot-holes in the houses in which they had previously raised their young.

This Swallow, in the more thickly settled portions of the country in which it breeds, exhibits a marked departure in many of its habits from those observed in wilder regions. In the latter places we find it a comparatively wild species, avoiding the society of man, and breeding exclusively in hollow trees and stumps, and deserving the name by which it is known in the British Provinces, of the “Wood Swallow.” In the islands of Grand Menan, in 1851, where repeated attempts had been made to induce these birds to build in martin-boxes, the endeavor had been entirely unsuccessful. Yet the birds were so abundant that hardly a hollow tree or stump, on certain of the smaller islands, could be found, that did not contain a nest of this species. This is still the case on the Pacific coast, though not exclusively so. It was not until after the publication of his Ornithological Biography that Audubon was aware of any departure from this mode of nesting on the part of this Swallow, although it had not escaped the notice of Wilson.

In the rural districts, even on the coast, these birds are not so abundant as in the cities, as in the latter they are less annoyed by other birds. The common Robin is often especially aggressive, seeking to drive them off his assumed premises. In one instance the Robin has been known to station himself on a platform in front of its nest for hours, and persistently refuse to permit its visits. Assistance was sought, and all the Swallows in the neighborhood came to the rescue. They sailed with angry cries over the head of the offender, at times darting down upon him as if to strike at him, but accomplishing nothing. The besieger maintained his ground until the writer intervened and drove him away, when the Swallows once more took possession, and fed their hungry nestlings in peace.

This species breeds from about latitude 38° to the extreme northern regions, and along the Arctic seas, wherever facilities for nesting are found. Richardson found them breeding in hollow trees on the Mackenzie River, in latitude 65°. Everywhere on both coasts they are very common, but are less numerous in the interior. Mr. Dall found it in Alaska from Fort Yukon to the sea. It was known to the Russians as the River Swallow. It was also met with in Sitka, by Bischoff. It has not been observed in Greenland.

The eggs are of a uniform pure white, and are never spotted. They have a delicate pinkish shade before they are blown. They are of an oblong-oval shape, one end more pointed than the other, and they vary considerably in size. They vary in length from .75 to .875 of an inch, and in breadth from .50 to .56.

Mr. Hepburn states that the great mass of these birds leave California in August, but that a few are resident during the winter. The principal accession to their numbers takes place about the end of February, and they become quite abundant by the end of March. In Vancouver they are a month later. In 1853 Mr. Hepburn states that a pair constructed their nest in a piece of canvass at the end of the yard-arm of a store-ship that lay off the levee at Sacramento. He first noticed them on the 28th of April, when the nest had already made some progress. By the 19th of May there were seven eggs in it which were slightly incubated. The nest was a great mass of hay and dried grasses, in the midst of which was a cup-shaped depression very neatly lined with feathers, some of which bent over, forming a slight dome.

Hirundo thalassina, Swains.

VIOLET-GREEN SWALLOW.

Hirundo thalassina, Swainson, Phil. Mag. I, 1827, 365 (Mexico).—Aud.—Brewer, N. A. Oöl. I, 1857, 102 (the fig. pl. v, fig. lxxiv of egg belongs to another species).—Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 311.—Lord, Pr. R. A. Inst. Woolwich, IV, 1864, 115 (Vancouver Isl.; nests in holes of trees).—Cooper & Suckley, P. R. R. Rep. XII, II, 185 (W. T.).—Cooper, Orn. Cal. 1, 1870, 107. Chelidon thalassina, Boie, Isis, 1844, 171. Tachycineta thalassina, Cab. Mus. Hein. 1850, 48. Hirundo (Tachycineta) thalassina, Baird, Rev. Am. B. 1864, 299. Petrochelidon thalassina, Sclater & Salvin, Ibis, 1859, 13 (Guatemala).—Ib. P. Z. S. 1864, 173 (City of Mex.).

Sp. Char. Tail acutely emarginate. Beneath pure white. Above soft velvety-green, with a very faint shade of purplish-violet concentrated on the nape into a transverse band. Rump rather more vivid green; tail-coverts showing a good deal of purple. Colors of female much more obscure. Length, 4.75; wing, 4.50; tail, 2.00.

Hab. Western and Middle Provinces of United States., south to Guatemala, east to the Upper Missouri. Breeds on Plateau of Mexico (Sumichrast).

Young birds are of a dull velvety grayish-brown, not unlike the shade of color of Cotyle riparia, but may be distinguished by the absence of the tuft of feathers at base of toes, and the gray (not white) bases of the feathers of under parts. There is only an ashy shade across the breast, not a pectoral band.

Winter specimens from Guatemala and Mexico have the upper secondaries very sharply and broadly bordered terminally with pure white.

Habits. The Violet-green Swallow is a common bird, from the central plains of North America to the Pacific coast, and is found at different seasons from Washington Territory to South America. It has been found as far east as Nebraska, and in abundance at Fort Bridger, in Utah.

As observed, in Washington Territory, by Drs. Suckley and Cooper, it is said to arrive at Puget Sound early in May, and to frequent entirely the high prairies bordered with oak and other deciduous trees, in the knot-holes of which, or in deserted Woodpeckers’ holes, it breeds. Its song is described as pleasing and varied, but rather weak. They found it to be quite abundant in the interior of Oregon and of Washington Territory, and in its habits and mode of flight hardly distinguishable from the bicolor.

In California, according to the observations of Dr. Cooper, it arrives in Santa Clara Valley as early as March 15, where it chiefly frequents the groves of oaks along the sides of the valleys, across the whole Coast Range, excepting in the immediate neighborhood of the sea. Their nest, so far as known, is always in the knot-holes of oaks, and they have never been known to breed in the immediate vicinity of dwellings, excepting only when their favorite trees were so situated. It is generally in an inaccessible place, and their eggs are not often obtained. These are pure white, resembling those of the bicolor and the riparia. Townsend states that he found them nesting in the deserted nests of the H. lunifrons, but in this he may have been mistaken. The eggs he gave to Mr. Audubon as those of this species undoubtedly belonged to the lunifrons. They leave California for the south in September.

Dr. Coues also found this Swallow in Arizona, where it was the most abundant and characteristic Swallow of the pine regions of that Territory. It is a summer resident at Fort Whipple, where it arrives about March 20, and remains until late in September.

In the Province of Vera Cruz, Mr. Sumichrast found this Swallow resident, not only in the hot belt of the coast, but also in the temperate region and throughout the plateau, at almost all heights, and was almost everywhere very common.

Mr. Salvin also states that early in March great numbers occur near Duenas, Guatemala, where they remain for a short time. During that time they are to be found flying over the open land to the south of the Lake of Duenas.

Mr. Ridgway writes that he first met with the Violet-green Swallow in May, on the islands in Pyramid Lake. He there found it very abundant among the cliffs of calcareous tufa of which the island was composed. They were seen to enter the fissures of the rock to their nests within, which it was found impossible to reach. They were again seen in July among the limestone cliffs along the cañons of the East Humboldt Mountains, associated with the White-throated Swift, building like them in the small horizontal crevices or fissures on the face of the precipice. He was not able to get at more than two of their nests, the first in a horizontal fissure just wide enough to admit the hand, and about eight inches from the entrance. It contained five young. The nest was similar to that of the Bank Swallow, and was composed of sticks, straws, and feathers. In the other the female was dead on her nest, and the eggs were broken. They were white, like those of the H. bicolor.

In its flight this bird is said to greatly resemble the White-bellied Swallow, but is distinguishable by the contrast of the three colors of its upper plumage. These two species are rarely to be seen in the same localities, the bicolor preferring wooded, and this species rocky localities.

Mr. Lord states that this beautiful Swallow was common from the coast along the entire course of the boundary line, to the summit of the Rocky Mountains. They were among the earliest visitors at Colville, arriving in small flocks in March, but in greater numbers in May and June. They build in June, making their nests in holes in dead trees as high as they can get, and lay four or five eggs. The nest is made of feathers and soft hair. They assemble in large flocks before migrating in September. Mr. Lord felt pretty sure their nesting-holes were excavated in the soft wood by themselves, though their soft beak seems ill adapted to perform such labor.

Stelgidopteryx, Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 312. (Type, Hirundo serripennis, Aud.)

Gen. Char. Bill rather small; nostrils oval, superior, margined behind, but scarcely laterally by membrane, but not at all overhung; the axes of the outline converging. Frontal feathers soft, and, like chin, without bristles. Tarsi equal to middle toe without claw; the upper end covered with feathers all round, none at lower end. Basal joint of middle toe adherent externally nearly to end; internally, scarcely half. Lateral toes about equal, their claws not reaching beyond base of middle claw. Tail slightly emarginate; the feathers broad, and obliquely rounded at end. Edge of the wing rough to the touch; the shafts of the fibrillæ of outer web of outer primary prolonged and bent at right angles into a short stiff hook. Nest (of S. serripennis) in holes in banks; eggs pure white, unspotted.

Color dull brown above.

The great peculiarity of this genus consists in the remarkable roughness of the edge of the wing, said to occur also in Psalidoprocne, Cab. The object is uncertain, but is probably to enable the bird to secure a foothold on vertical or inclined rocks, among or on which it makes its nest. A favorite breeding-place of S. serripennis is in the piers and abutments of bridges, and these hooks might render essential aid in entering into their holes.

The birds of this genus have usually been referred to Cotyle, which, however, they resemble only in color. The nostrils are exposed, instead of being overhung; the tarsus is bare below, not feathered, and the lateral claws are considerably curved, and not reaching beyond the base of the lateral, as in Cotyle. The structure of the wing is very different.

There are at least five species or races of this genus in America, although only one belongs with certainty to the United States. A second, however, (S. fulvipennis), Mexican and Guatemalan, is not unlikely to occur in Arizona or New Mexico. This differs in having the chin and throat reddish-fulvous, not mouse-gray; the belly tinged with yellow.

Stelgidopteryx serripennis, Baird.

ROUGH-WINGED SWALLOW.

Hirundo serripennis, Aud. Orn. Biog. IV, 1838, 593.—Ib. Birds Am. I, 1840, 193, pl. li. Cotyle s. Bon. Consp. 1850, 342.—Cassin.—Brewer, N. Am. Oöl. I, 1857, 106, pl. iv, fig. 50 (eggs):—Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 313.—Lord, Pr. R. A. Inst. IV, 1864, 116 (Br. Columbia).—Cooper & Suckley, P. R. R. Rep. XII, II, 186 (W. Terr.).—Heermann, P. R. R. X; Williamson’s Rep. 36 (San Antonio, Tex.; breeding).—Cooper, Orn. Cal. 1, 1870, 110. Stelgidopteryx s. Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 312; Rev. 314.

Young birds (as in 1,120) differ in a tinge of reddish-fulvous on the upper parts; the wing-coverts, secondaries, and inner primaries margined more or less broadly with a brighter shade of the same. The gray of the under parts is also washed with this color, especially on the chin and across the breast. The hooks of the edge of the wing have not yet become developed.

(No. 32,269 ♂, fresh specimen before being skinned.) Total length, 5.40; expanse of wings, 12.20; wing from carpal joint, 4.50.

(No. 32,269 ♂, prepared specimen.) Total length, 5.20; wing, 4.50; tail, 2.25, depth of fork, .15; difference of primaries, 2.28; length of bill from forehead, .40, from nostril, .24, along gape, .56, width of gape, .43; tarsus, .45; middle toe and claw, .57; claw alone, .19; hind toe and claw, .41; claw alone, .16.

Hab. Whole United States (exclusive of Northeastern States?) south to Central Mexico.

Habits. The Rough-winged Swallow was first met with by Audubon, in Louisiana, but described by him from specimens afterwards procured near Charleston, S. C. He knew nothing in regard to its habits, and its distribution was equally unknown to him. It has since been found, but nowhere very abundantly, in various parts of the United States. It has not been met with on the Atlantic coast farther to the north than New Jersey and Pennsylvania. On the Pacific coast it is more common. Dr. Suckley speaks of it as quite abundant both in Oregon and in Washington Territory. Dr. Cooper, in his Zoölogy of Washington Territory, speaks of it as common about the sandy cliffs of the bays and inlets of that coast, arriving near the Columbia in May, and remaining only until the middle of August, when all these Swallows go southwards, though their last brood is hardly able to fly. He says that they burrow holes in the soft sandy banks near the tops of cliffs, and have generally the same habits as the common Bank Swallow. They have no song, only a few chirping calls.

At Eagle Pass, Mr. Dresser met these birds, arriving from the South, on the 21st of February. There, and also at San Antonio, they were very common, breeding in the towns, making their nests under the eaves and in holes in the old walls, depositing their eggs by the 25th of April. Dr. Kennerly also found this Swallow very abundant along the Colorado River in February. Its flight seemed to him to be like that of the common Barn Swallow. Dr. Heermann frequently met with this species during the journey from the junction of the Gila and Colorado Rivers through Mexico, New Mexico, and Texas, to San Antonio. In the latter place he found them breeding almost entirely in crevices in the walls of houses.

In the vicinity of Washington, Dr. Coues found this Swallow a summer resident, but rather rare, arriving in the third week of April, and leaving about the middle of September.

Mr. Ridgway speaks of this bird as one of the most abundant Swallows of the West, inhabiting the river valleys, and breeding in holes in the banks of the rivers. He says that in Southern Illinois it is much more abundant than the C. riparia, though both nest in the same banks.

This species was first found breeding in Carlisle, Penn., by Professor Baird, in the summer of 1843. The following year I visited this locality early in June, and had an opportunity to study its habits during its breeding-season. We found the bird rather common, and examined a number of their nests. None that we met with were in places that had been excavated by the birds, although the previous season several had been found that had apparently been excavated in banks in the same manner with the Bank Swallow. All the nests (seven in number) that we then met with were in situations accidentally adapted to their need, and all were directly over running water. Some were constructed in crevices between the stones in the walls and arches of bridges. In several instances the nests were but little above the surface of the stream. In one, the first laying had been flooded, and the eggs chilled. The birds had constructed another nest above the first one, in which were six fresh eggs, as many as in the other. One nest had been built between the stones of the wall that formed one of the sides of the flume of a mill. Two feet above it was a frequented footpath, and, at the same distance below, the water of the mill-stream. Another nest was between the boards of a small building in which revolved a water-wheel. The entrance to it was through a knot-hole in the outer partition, and the nest rested on a small rafter between the outer and the inner boardings.

The nests were similar in their construction to those of the Bank Swallow, composed of dry grasses, straws, and leaves, and lined with a few feathers; but a much greater amount of material was made use of, owing, perhaps, to the exposed positions in which they were built.

Genus COTYLE, Boie.

Cotyle, Boie, Isis, 1822, 550. (Type, Hirundo riparia, L.)

Gen. Char. Bill small; nostrils lateral, overhung by a straight-edged membrane. Tarsus about equal to middle toe without claw; feathered at upper end, especially on inner face, and having also a small tuft of feathers attached to posterior edge near the hind toe. Middle toe with basal joint adherent externally to near the end, half-way internally, the claws comparatively little curved, the lateral reaching beyond the base of the middle. Tail slightly forked. Color dull lustreless brown above, in riparia white beneath with gray pectoral band. Nests in holes in banks; eggs white.