N'ORTHERN CLIFF SWALLOW 463 



tion from the south coasts begins the second week in August; passage 

 migrants from the north begin to arrive early in September. Strag- 

 glers are frequent in November, up to the end of the third week. 

 "(Late dates Dec. 1, 1908, Norfolk, Dec. 20, 1911, Berks., Jan. 3, 1913, 

 Dorset, Jan. 23, 1913, Kerry)." 



Egg dates.— Eggs have been recorded in Great Britain through 

 practically all the five months from May to September. 



PETROCHELIDON ALBIFRONS ALBIFRONS (Rafinesque) 



NORTHERN CLIFF SWALLOW 



Plates 65-68 



HABITS 



Contributed by Alfbed Otto Gross 



The generic name of the cliff swallow, Petrochelidon, is derived 

 from the Greek petra, a rock, and chelidon, a swallow, and its spe- 

 cific name is from the Latin alhu^, white, and frons, forehead; hence a 

 rock swallow with a white forehead. 



There are two common names of this swallow alluding to its nest- 

 ing site that vie with each other for popularity; they are cliif swal- 

 low and eaves swallow. The former, although less appropriate in 

 many sections of its nesting range today, is the one adopted by Amer- 

 ican ornithologists. Less commonly used names originating from 

 the character of the nests or building material are jug swallow, mud 

 swallow, pipe swallow, and mud dauber. It is not surprising that 

 the plumage of this well-marked swallow has given rise to such appel- 

 lations as crescent swallow, white-fronted swallow, and square-tailed 

 swallow. Another common name, which was widely used by the 

 earlier ornithologists but seldom applied today, is republican swal- 

 low. This unusual name originated with Audubon (1831) when he 

 first discovered the species at Henderson on the banks of the Ohio 

 River in the spring of 1815. He writes: "I drew up a description 

 at the time, naming the species Hirundo repiiblicana, the republican 

 swallow, in allusion to the mode in which individuals associate, for 

 the pur]:)ose of forming their nests and rearing their young." 



The cliff swallow ranks well among our most abundant birds and 

 has a breeding range extending from Mexico to Alaska and across the 

 continent from the Pacific to the Atlantic coast lines. In spite of its 

 present-day abundance and wide distribution, it was unknown to 

 Wilson and other early ornithologists. Its history although ob- 

 scure is of unusual interest. 



This swallow was first brought to our attention by John Reinhold 

 Forester who refers to it as Eirundo 35 in an account of the birds 



