482 BULLETIN 17 9, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



(1888) reported "thousands and thousands" of cliff swallows resting 

 in the latter part of July on a marsh near Red Rock, Indian Terri- 

 tory (Oklahoma). Widmann (1907) writes: "The only time the spe- 

 cies is present in great numbers is from the middle of August to the 

 middle of September. At this period of southward migration thou- 

 sands and thousands gather at night at the common roosts in the 

 Spartina marshes of north Missouri. All are gone before the end of 

 September." 



Such flocks as mentioned above do not migrate en mass but travel 

 in relatively small groups. Cooke (1914) made extensive observations 

 of the migration of cliff swallows at Caddo, Okla., late in August and 

 early in September when sw^allows were in sight almost continuously 

 moving southward. Late in August the flight of swallows began aljout 

 at 5 : 30 a. m. and lasted an hour. On September 1 the first group 

 passed at 5 : 10 and the last at 6 : 10. At 8 a. m. on September 25 about 

 30 cliff swallows passed in one flock going rapidly south ; and for the 

 next two weeks cliff swallows were seen about one-half of the evenings 

 and one-third of the mornings in numbers from five birds to 200, about 

 nine-tenths of them heading straight south and the rest flying about 

 in search of food. The last cliff swallow was seen on October 9. 



DISTRIBUTION 



Range. — North and South America. 



Breeding range. — The breeding range of the cliff swallow extends 

 north to Alaska (Holj'- Cross, Rampart, and Bettles) ; northern 

 Mackenzie (Rat River, Fort Goodhope, Lockhart River, Kendall 

 River, and Artillery Lake) ; northern Manitoba (Cochrane River 

 and possibly rarely Churchill) ; northern Ontario (Martin Falls and 

 Moose Factory) ; Quebec (Godbout, Mont Louis River, Perce, and 

 the Magdalen Islands) ; and Nova Scotia (Baddeck). The eastern 

 limits extend south along the Atlantic coast from Nova Scotia (Bad- 

 deck, Halifax, and Barrington) to Virginia (Aylett). South to cen- 

 tral Virginia (Aylett, Lexington, and Blacksburg) ; northern 

 Alabama (Fort Deposit) ; southern Texas (Corpus Christi and Fort 

 Brown) ; Puebla (Atlixco) ; elalisco (La Barca) ; Durango (Rio 

 Sestin) ; and northern Baja California (San Quintin). The western 

 limits extend north along the Pacific coast from northern Baja 

 California (San Quintin and San Isidro), to Alaska (Mount Mc- 

 Kinley, Flat, and Holy Cross). 



Winter range. — The winter range is imperfectly known but avail- 

 able information indicates that it extends from southern Brazil 

 (Itarare) and northern Argentina (Tucuman) south to central Ar- 

 gentina (Cape San Antonio, Flores, and Zelaya). 



