384 SWALLOWS 



812. Petrochelidon lunifrons (Say.). Cliff Swallow. 



Adults. — Forehead white, huffy, or brown ; crown, back, and patch on 

 chest glossy blue black ; throat and collar chestnut, sides 

 ■^^^^^ ^"^ flanks brown ; rest of under parts white. Young : sira- 



V 5^^^ jlaj.^ ]rj^j^ colors duller and pattern less sharply defined ; 



throat usually, and other parts of head sometimes, spotted 



with white ; tertials and tail coverts edged with brown, 



chestnut of head partly or wholly wanting ; upper parts 



Fie 473 ^^^^ blackish. Length : 5-6. wing 4.05-4.55, tail 2.00- 



2.20. 



Distribution. — North America, from the limit of trees south to the 

 southwestern United States ; mig-rates to Central and South America. 

 Not recorded from Florida or the \Vest Indies. 



Nest. — A gourd or retort shaped structure made of pellets of mud 

 mixed with a few straws, lined with feathers ; attached to cliffs or build- 

 ings. Eggs : 3 to 5, white, speckled or spotted with brown and lilac. 

 Food. — Ants and other insects. 



In regions where there are no houses, the retort-shaped nests of 

 the cliff swallows are usually found in colonies massed on the side 

 of a cliff, under the roof of a cave, or plastered to the branches of 

 a giant tree ; but in the settled part of the country the birds seem 

 to prefer eaves of barns and houses, and their nests have been 

 found in deserted buildings plastered to ceilings and walls. 



There is such a common prejudice against these swallows that 

 boys are often encouraged to shoot them with sling-shots in the 

 cities, and ranchmen drive them away from their barns, fearing 

 that the parasites which infest them will spread to the stock. But, 

 as a matter of fact, bird parasites will not live on mammals, and 

 the swallows do great good by eating annoying insects. 



612.2. Petrochelidon melanogastra (Swains.). Mexican 

 Cliff Swallow. 



Like lunifrons, but *' smaller, with forehead chestnut, like throat and 

 sides of head (rarely fawn colored), and rump deep cinnamon." (Ridg- 

 way.) Length : 4.50-5.00, wing 3.95-4.30, tail 2.00-2.20. 



Distribution. — Mexico, south to Guatemala, north to southern Arizona. 



The Mexican cliff swallow has recently been added to the list of 

 United States birds by Dr. E. A. Mearns, who found it breeding in 

 southern Arizona. 



GENUS HIETJNDO. 



613. Hirundo erythrogastra Bodd. Bark Swallow.^ 



Tail forked for about half its length, outside feather tapered to point ; 



1 Hirundo erythrogastra palmeri Grinnell. 



Like erythrogastra, but color of under parts deeper, and frontal chestnut band broader 

 and darker ; wing and tail somewhat longer and bill smaller. 



Distribution. — Western North America, summering from southern California to Kot- 

 zebue Sound, Alaska ; west to Unalaska and east to and including the Rocky Mountains. 

 {The Condor, iv. 71.) 



