488 BULLETIN 17 9, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



The range extends north to southern Texas (Kerr County) ; Cuba 

 (Trinidad and Guantanamo) ; northern Haiti (Cap-Haitien and 

 Tortue Island) ; northern Dominican Republic (Monte Cristi and San 

 Lorenzo) ; and northern Puerto Rico (Aguadilla, Manati, and Bay- 

 amon). East to Puerto Rico (Bayamon and Gruayama). South 

 to southern Puerto Rico (Guayama and Cabo Rojo) ; southern Do- 

 minican Republic (Ciudad Trujillo) ; Jamaica (Port Henderson) ; 

 Yucatan (Izamal and Calcehtok) ; and Chiapas (Ocozocuantla), 

 West to Chiapas (Ocozocuantla) ; Tamaulipas (Miquihuana) ; Coa- 

 huila (Saltillo, Sabinas, and Monclova) ; and Texas (Kerr County). 



Several subspecies are recognized. The typical race known as the 

 Hispaniolan cliff swallow {Petrochelidon fulva fulva) is confined to 

 the island of Hispaniola. The Cuban cliff swallow {P. f. cavicola) is 

 found in Cuba and on the Isle of Pines. Two specimens of this race 

 were taken at Dry Tortugas, Fla., on March 22 and 25, 1890. The 

 Coahuila cliff swallow {P. f. paJlida) is the form found in northeastern 

 Mexico. A pair were taken in Kerr County, Tex., on April 23 and 

 24, 1910, and this race was later found to be nesting in that area. 



Egg dates. — Cuba : 1 record, June 10. 



Texas : 8 records, June 7 and 8. 



PETROCHELIDON FULVA PALLIDA Nelson 



COAHUILA CLIFF SWALLOW 



HABITS 



This is a pale race of a West Indian species that is found in north- 

 eastern Mexico, Tamaulipas and Coahuila, and north to Kerr County, 

 Tex. Additional races of the species fulva occur in Cuba, the Isle 

 of Pines, Jamaica, Haiti, Puerto Rico, the Greater Antilles, and 

 perhaps Yucatan and parts of southern Mexico. 



Nesting. — Col. John E. Thayer (1915) gives us the only account we 

 have of the nesting habits of this subspecies, as follows: 



The Mexican form of Cliff Swallow {Petrochelidon fulva pallida), described 

 by Nelson, was found nesting by my collector near Japonica in Kerr County, 

 Texas, during the month of June, 1914. He collected a series of birds and 

 eleven sets of eggs. There was rather a large colony nesting in a cave. The 

 entrance of this cave was like a mine shaft. The ceiling was covered with 

 holes where the water had once eroded into the limestone rock. The Swallows 

 nest in these holes, plastering a little mud like a balcony to hold the eggs in. 

 A forty foot ladder was used to get up to them. The cave was poorly lighted 

 and very damp. It was 50 feet from the floor of the cave to the ground, where 

 the entrance was. The opening was about 8 ft. in diameter. About 10 feet 

 down, the cave widened out into a spacious chamber. The only light was from 

 the shaft-like entrance. To enter the birds pitched head first and diverged 

 into the semi-dark chamber and began a detour of circles to check the impetus 

 of their plunge." 



