Rough -winged Swallow 423 



female the barbs are stiffened and produced, but not hooked ; tail 

 short, about half the length of the wing, very nearly square ; tarsus. 

 without a tuft of feathers, claws short, that of the hallux less than its 

 digit. Sexes alike ; eggs white. 



This genus, containing several species, is confined to the temperate 

 and tropical regions of continental America. Only one species is 

 met with in the United States. 



Rough-winged Swallow. Stelgidopteryx serripennis. 



A.O.U. Checklist no 617— Colorado Records— Allen 72, p. 149 ; 

 Henshaw 75, p. 219 ; Allen & Brewster 83, p. 160 ; Drew 8.5, p. 15 ; 

 Beckham 85, p. 141 ; Morrison 88, p. 73 ; Cooke 97, pp. 19, 111 ; Dille 

 03, p. 74 ; Oilman 07, p. 158. 



Description. — Male — Above pale mouse-brown nearly uniform except 

 on the wings and tail, which are a shade darker ; below a paler shade 

 of mouse-brown shading into white on the lower-breast, abdomen 

 and under tail-coverts ; outer primary with the barbs of the outer web 

 produced and hooked ; iris brown ; bill black ; legs homy -brown. 

 Length 4-75 ; wing 4-25 ; tail 2-10 ; culmen -25 ; tarsus -40. 



The female resembles the male but is slightly smaller, and the barbs 

 of the outer web of the outer primary slightly produced and stiffened 

 but not hooked — wing about 4-0. The young bird is slightly washed 

 with fawn above and has fawn-colovired tips and edgings to most of 

 the coverts and secondaries ; the throat and chest are also slightly 

 tinged with the same colour. 



Distribution. — Breeding in temperate North America from British 

 Columbia and Massachusetts south to central Mexico ; south in winter 

 to Costa Rica and occasionally on the coast of South Carolina. 



In Colorado the Rough-winged Swallow is a fairly common simimer 

 bird along the eastern base of the Rocky Mountains, from Cheyenne 

 over the Wyoming border to Trinidad, where it was fovmd breeding 

 by Aiken, but it does not go up into the mountains. It has also been 

 met with in the south-western portion of the State at Fort Lewis by 

 Oilman, and is stated by Morrison on the authority of Anthony to 

 occur on the Animas River near Silverton ; if so it reaches an elevation 

 of 9,000 feet, a good deal higher than was previously supposed. It 

 arrives in Colorado about the first week in May. 



Habits. — The Rough-winged Swallow resembles the 

 Bank-Swallow in habits and actions ; its swift and low 

 flight and twittering notes being very similar. They 

 are not, however, so gregarious in their habits, and nest 

 in smaller numbers or even singly. The nest-holes are 



