Form robust and compact; bill wide at base, compressed suddenly to the
tip, rather strong; upper mandible overlapping the under; wings long,
pointed; first and second primaries longest; tail moderate, rather wide,
usually deeply emarginate; tarsi and feet larger and stronger than usual
in this family.
Size, largest of American birds of this family. This genus contains
about five or six American species, several of which are nearly related
to each other, and not well understood, and probably one other (_Hirundo
borbonica_, Gm.), which is a native of Madagascar, and of the Island of
Bourbon. All the species, except the last, considerably resemble each
other, and are difficult to distinguish in some stages of plumage.
1. Progne purpurea. (Linn.) The Purple-Martin. The House Martin.
Hirundo purpurea et subis. Linn., Syst. Nat. I. p. 344. (1766.)
Hirundo violacea. Gm., Syst. Nat. I. p. 1026. (1788.)
Hirundo cœrulea. Vieill., Ois. d’Am., Sept. 1, pl. 57. (1807.)
Hirundo versicolor. Vieill., Nouv. Dict. XIV. p. 509. (1817.)
Hirundo ludoviciana. Cuv., Reg. An. I. p. 374. (1817.)
Catesby, Carolina I. pl. 51; Vieill., Ois. d’Am., Sept. 1, pl. 26, 27;
Buff, Pl. Enl. 722; Wilson, Am. Orn. V. pl. 30, fig. 2, 3; Aud., B. of
Am., pl. 22, Oct. ed. I. pl. 45; Nat. Hist. N. Y. Birds, pl. 28, fig.
61.
Bill moderately wide at base, rather strong, curved; wings reaching
about to the end of the tail, which is deeply emarginate; legs short;
toes rather long. Male.—Entire plumage above and below deep black,
with a purple and blue silky lustre; quills and tail less lustrous,
and in many specimens plain brownish-black; bill and feet black.
Female. Upper-parts same as in the male, but paler; under-parts
ashy-brown, dark on the throat and breast; paler and sometimes nearly
white on the abdomen; under tail coverts dark brown, every feather
edged with ashy-white.
Dimensions. Total length, male, 7½ inches; wing, 5¾; tail, 3 inches.
Female slightly smaller.
Hab. Eastern North America. Canada (Dr. Hall); Oregon (Dr. Townsend);
Texas (Dr. Woodhouse); Cuba (Mr. Lembeye); Florida (Mr. John Lee
Williams).
In mature plumage, a beautiful species. This bird is common throughout
the eastern United States, and comes with much punctuality in the spring
to take possession of the boxes prepared for its accommodation in the
rural districts, and occasionally in the cities. Our esteemed friend,
Mr. Thomas Fisher, an eminent mathematician of this city, has been
annually visited by a colony of this species for several years, though
his residence is in one of the most dense parts of Philadelphia.
This bird is nearly allied to several species of South America and the
West Indies. In fact, the genus _Progne_ is one of the most difficult of
the family of Swallows.
2. Progne chalybea. (Gmelin.) The Western Martin.
Hirundo chalybea. Gm., Syst. Nat. I. p. 1026. (1788.)
Buff, Pl. Enl. 545, fig. 2.
Size smaller than that of the preceding; bill very wide at base, much
longer than in the preceding, gradually compressed to the tip, curved;
wings reaching about to the end of the tail, which is deeply
emarginate; under tail coverts long; legs short. Male, adult? Plumage
of the upper parts dusky black, with a dark green lustre; throat and
breast ashy white, running into light smoky brown on the sides of the
neck, breast, and flanks; abdomen and under tail-coverts pure white,
many feathers having dark lines on their shafts; under wing-coverts
and axillaries fuliginous brown. Female? Similar to the male, but less
lustrous on the upper parts, and with the entire plumage more tinged
with fuliginous; under tail-coverts pure white, many feathers with
dark shafts; bill and feet dark.
Dimensions. Total length, about 6¾ inches; wing, 5¼; tail, 3 inches.
Female slightly smaller.
Hab. Western North America. South America, California, Panama (Mr.
Bell).
This species, long known as a bird of South America, was first
ascertained to be entitled to a place in the ornithological fauna of the
United States by Mr. John G. Bell, of New York, who noticed it in
California, and previously at Panama. We have since seen specimens from
various parts of California, and suspect that it is abundant in that and
probably in other countries of Western America.
Though closely related to other South American species, the present bird
may be distinguished very easily from the Purple Martin of the United
States (_P. purpurea_), by the greater width and much greater length of
the bill, and it is smaller in size. We are not confident that we have
ever seen the perfectly plumaged adults of this bird, though the
specimens above described were obtained by Mr. Bell in the spring, and
have the general appearance of maturity, except that the lustre of the
plumage is but faint. Little or nothing is known of its habits or
history.