Part 64

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.

4. Hirundo thalassina. Swains., Philos. Mag., 1827, p. 366.

Aud., B. of Am., pl. 385, fig. 4, 5, Oct. ed. I. pl. 49.

Wings long, exceeding the tail, which is rather short and emarginate; entire upper-parts rich grass-green, very glossy, and shaded with purple, especially on the head, and in some specimens approaching to carmine on the back, rump, and upper tail-coverts; entire under-parts silky-white, generally with a tinge of cinereous; bill and feet dark. Female, less glossy, and with the purple generally tinged with brown.

Dimensions. Total length, male, 5 inches; wing, 4½; tail, 2 inches. Female, smaller.

Hab. Western North America. Oregon (Townsend); California (Gambel); Mexico (Swainson); New Mexico (Woodhouse).

This is the most beautiful of the North American birds of this family. It is exclusively an inhabitant of the countries west of the Rocky Mountains and of Mexico.

II. GENUS PROGNE. Boie, Isis, 1826, p. 971.

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.