428 



NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



Genus NEPHCBCETES, 1!.urd. 



Ncphcecetes, Baird, Biids N. Am. ISoS, 142. (T^pe, llirundo nigra, Gmel.) 



Gen. Cu.\r. Tail rather less than half the wings ; quite deeply forked (less so in the 

 female) ; the feathers obtusely acuminate ; the shafts scarcely stiffened. First quill 

 longest. Tarsi and toes completely bare, and covered with naked skin, without distinct 

 indications of sciitellcB. Tarsus rather longer than middle toe ; the three anterior toes 

 about equal, with moderately stout claws. Claw of middle toe much shorter thau its 



Nepkacetes ni^er. 



digit. Hind toe not versatile, but truly posterior and opposite, with its. claw rather 

 longer than the middle toe without it. Toes all slender ; claws moderate. Nostrils 

 widely ovate, the feathers margining its entire lower edge. 



The comparative characters of this genus will be found in the diagnostic 



tables at the head of the 

 family. According to 

 Sclater, Cypsdoides of 

 Streubel (Isis, 1848, 

 366) with C.fmnigatus 

 as type, may liave to be 

 taken for this genus, as 

 it was named by Streu- 

 bel as an alternative 

 to Hcmijjrocnc, which 

 belongs to Clicetura. 

 Until this question 



Ncphacetes niger. ^ 



01 synonymy can be 

 decided positively, we retain Nepluecetcs. 



The single North American species, K niger, has a singular distribution, 

 being abundant near Puget Sound in summer, and again found in Jamaica 

 and Cuba, without having been met with in any intermediate locality, 

 except in the Province of Huatasco, Mex. The West India specimens are 

 rather smaller, but otherwise not distinguishable. 



