438 THE GENUS STELGIDOPTERYX 



find myself unable to contribute anything of note to the com- 

 mon fund. Even regarding the specialties of the subject, as 

 far as the Colorado Basin is concerned, the appearance of the 

 bird's name in thick type, in the centre of the line, is sufficient. 



Genus STELGIDOPTERYX Baird 



Hirundo, Cotyle, p. of Authors. 



Stelgidupteryx, Bd. BNA. 1858, 312; Eev. AB. 1865, 312. (Type B. serripennis And.) 



This genus has the general aspect of Cotyle, the form and 

 coloration being much the same; but it differs in several im- 

 portant particulars. The essential character is the roughness 

 of the edge of the wing, the outer web of the first primary 

 being converted into a series of stiff, recurved hooks. Other 

 Swallows, as Psalidoprocne Cab., have the peculiar wing struc- 

 ture, but are otherwise different. The design of the structure 

 is not clear, but we may readily suppose that the hooks assist 

 the birds in crawling into their holes, and in clinging to 

 vertical or hanging surfaces. The tarsus is slightly covered 

 with feathers above, but lacks the curious tuft seen at the base 

 of the hind toe in Cotyle. The lateral claws are curved, and 

 do not reach beyond the base of the middle. The basal joint 

 of the middle toe is extensively adherent to the outer, much 

 less so to the inner. The small bill shows oval superior nos- 

 trils margined by membrane behind, but not at all overhung. 

 The tail is short and slightly emarginate. The coloration is 

 dull and simple, much as in Cotyle, but there is a tendency to 

 fulvous not seen in the latter. The eggs are uncolored, and 

 laid in holes dug in the ground by the birds, or elsewhere. 



The species are few, and confined to America, chiefly in its 

 warmer parts. Only one inhabits the United States. 



The Roiigli-^vfliiged i§ivnlflo^v 



Stelg^idopteryx serripennis 



Hirundo serripennis, Aud. OB. iv. 1838, 593, pi.— .—4 wd. Syn. 1839, 37.— J.Md. BA. i. 1840, 

 193, pi. 51.— Fart Fleet, Bull. Nutt. Club, i. 187(i, 9 (special paper on babit.s). 



Cotjie serripennis, Boie, I-sis, 1844, 170.— Bp. CA. i. 1850, 342.— Ca«s, Illust. B. Cal. & Tex. 

 J 855, 247.—? 9 Scl. PZS. 1856, 285 (Cordova,).— Newb. PRRR. vi. 1^57, 79.— Brew. N. Am. 

 Oiil. 1857, 106, pi. 4, f. bO.—Bd. BNA. lt<58, 313.— A'mn. PRRR. x. 1859, 2i.—Ueerm. 

 PRRR. X. 1859, 36.— ? S. <£ S. Ibi.s, 1859, 13 (Gna' ema.\a) .—? Owen, Ibis, 1861, 01 

 (Gnateniala, breeding).- Coop. <£• SttcW. NHWT. 1860, iSG.-Barn. Smiths. Rep. for 

 1860, 1861, 436 (Pennsylvania).- Lord, Pr. Roy. Arty. Inst. iv. 18C4, 110 (British Colum- 

 bia).— Comcs, Ibis, l!-65, 163 (Arizona). — Dress. Ibis, 1865, 479 (Texa.s). — Brown, Ibis, 

 1868, 421 (Vancouver).— B««c/j. Pr. Phila. Acad. 1868, 149 (Texas). -Haym. Cox's Geo]. 

 Surv. Indiana, 1869, 21S (Indiana). —jffo?/, Pr. Best. Soc. xii. 1869, 400 (nesl'mn). —Turnb. 

 B. E. Pa. 1869, 20; Phila. ed. 13.— Coojp. Pr. Cal. Acad. 1870, 75.— Coop. B. Cal. i. 1870, 

 110.— ParA;cr, Am. Nat. v. 1871, \6%.— Scott, Pr. Boat. Soc. xv. 1872, 223.— .TTirti. Pr 

 Cleveland Acad. i. 1874, 272 {Ohio).— Allen, Pr. Bost. Soc. xvii. 1874, 54 (Dakota). 



Cotyle serrepennis, Gregij, Pr. Elmira Acad. 1870. 



