VOL. XV, PP. 31-32 MARCH 5, 1902 



PROCEEDINGS 



OF THE 



BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON 



DESCRIPTION OF A NEW SWALLOW FROM THE 

 WESTERN UNITED STATES. 



BY EDGAR A. MEARNS. 



Comparison of topotypes of Tachycineta thalassina Swainson* 

 with the Violet-green Swallow of the United States shows the 

 two forms to be different. The latter is described below. 



Tachycineta lepida sp. nov. 



NORTHERN VIOLET-GREEN SWALLOW. 



Type. No. 133,522, U. S. National Museum. $ ad. collected June 

 9, 1894, at Campbell's ranch in the Laguna Mountains (Coast Range), 20 

 miles north of Campo, in San Diego County, California, by Edgar A. 

 Mearns. Original Number, 11,014. 



Characters. Similar to Hirundo thalassina Swainson, but smaller, 

 with the violet or "lilac" of the back replaced by bottle green, and the 

 green of the rump and upper tail-coverts replaced by violet of a shade 

 between the violet and Indian purple of Ridgway's color manual, the 

 patterns being exactly reversed in the two forms. In winter, the prox 

 imal secondaries are broadly edged with white, which is not the case in 

 the winter specimens of Tachycineta thalassina examined. 



Description of type ($ ad). Length, 134 mm.; alar expanse, 310; 

 wing, 118; tail, 50; culmen (chord), 6.2; tarsus, 11.2; middle toe with 



*Philos. Mag., n. s., I, p. 366, No. 6, 1827, ("Table land; Real del 

 Monte, by Mr. Morgan.") 



6-BioL. Soc. WASH. VOL. XV, 1902 (31) 



