Tail moderate or short, emarginate, but slightly forked.
2. Hirundo lunifrons. Say., Long’s Exp. to the Rocky Mts. II. p. 47.
(1823.) The Cliff Swallow.
Hirundo opifex. Clinton, Ann. N. Y. Lyceum I. p. 161. (1824.)
Hirundo respublicana. Aud., Ann. N. Y. Lyc., I. p. 164. (1824.)
“Hirundo fulva. Vieill.” Aud., Orn. Biog. V. p. 415, and Clinton,
as above.
Bonap., Am. Orn., 1. pl. 7, fig. 1; Aud., B. of Am., pl. 68, Oct. ed.
I. pl. 47; Nat. Hist. N. Y. Birds, pl. 30, fig. 64.
Bill very wide at base, short; wings long; tail rather short,
emarginate; forehead white, nearly pure in some specimens, but
generally tinged with reddish chestnut; head above and back
bluish-black, with a purple lustre; plumage of the back usually edged
and streaked with grayish white; rump pale chestnut; throat dark
brownish chestnut, which color extends upwards and forms a complete
collar around the neck behind; lores and large spot on the neck in
front black; entire other under-parts ashy-white, tinged with pale
chestnut, especially on the breast; under tail coverts with a green
lustre, and tipped with pure white; wings and tail brownish-black;
bill and feet dark; sexes very nearly alike.
Dimensions. Total length, 5½ inches; wing, 4⅜; tail, 2 inches. Female
rather smaller.
Hab. Throughout North America. Oregon (Dr. Townsend); California (Dr.
Heermann); New Mexico (Col. McCall); Texas (Dr. Woodhouse); Indiana
(Rufus Haymond, M. D.); Canada (Dr. Hall).
This handsome species is now well known throughout almost the whole of
the United States, but is said to have appeared for the first time in
the States on the Atlantic seaboard within the memory of persons now
living. It builds a curiously-formed nest of the shape of a gourd,
faithfully represented in Mr. Audubon’s plates, cited above.
_Hirundo fulva_, Vieill., is an allied species, but much smaller, and
not ascertained to inhabit any part of North America. It is best known
as a bird of the Island of Jamaica.
The paper referred to above, in which this bird is named _Hirundo
opifex_, possesses additional interest, from the fact that it was
written by the late De Witt Clinton, formerly Governor of the State of
New York, who had given particular attention to American Natural
History.
3. Hirundo bicolor. Vieill., Ois. d’Am., Sept. 1, p. 61. (1807.) The
White-bellied Swallow.
Hirundo viridis. Wilson, Am. Orn. V. p. 44. (1812.)
Hirundo leucogaster. Stephens, Gen. Zool. X. p. 106. (1817.)
Vieill., Ois. d’Am., Sept. 1, pl. 31; Wilson, Am. Orn. V. pl. 38, fig.
3; Aud., Birds of Am., pl. 98, Oct. ed. I. pl. 46; Nat. Hist. N. Y.
Birds, pl. 29, fig. 1.
Wings long, exceeding the tail, pointed; tail deeply emarginate;
entire upper parts uniform dark green, changing to blue in some
lights, very glossy; wings and tail brownish-black, slightly tinged
with green; entire under-parts silky-white, generally with a tinge of
cinereous; bill black; feet yellow; sexes alike, but the female with
the colors duller.
Dimensions. Total length, male, 5½ inches; wing, 4¾; tail, 2¼ inches.
Hab. Throughout North America. Canada (Dr. Hall); Oregon (Dr.
Townsend); California, Texas (Dr. Woodhouse); Cuba (Mr. Lembeye);
Wisconsin (Dr. Hoy); Northern Ohio (Prof. Kirtland); Long Island (Mr.
Giraud).
When in full plumage, this is one of the handsomest of the Swallows of
the United States. It is quite abundant everywhere in the States on the
Atlantic during the summer.
Specimens from California present some points of difference from the
bird of Pennsylvania, being apparently more tinged with blue, and having
the bill perhaps slightly large. We regard the two, however, as
specifically the same.