382 BULLETIN 179, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



winter range is in Mexico and Central America, as far south as 

 Guatemala and Costa Rica. Dickey and van Rossem (1938) refer 

 to its status in El Salvador as an "abundant, though extremely local, 

 midwinter visitant to the seacoast and mountains." They say 

 further : 



The abundance of this species at tidewater and in the interior mountains, 

 with a vertical gap of some 6,000 feet in distribution, cannot be explained at 

 the present writing. In the winter of 1925-1926, violet-green swallows were 

 to be seen in large numbers over the tidal flats at Puerto del Triunfo, where 

 they fed from about an hour before sundown to dusk, in company with the 

 even more common rough-wings. During the day they spread out over the 

 coastal plain a short distance inland where their actual numbers were not 

 so apparent. This was the only locality in which the species was detected 

 until, in 1927, it was found to be extremely common above 6,000 feet on Los 

 Esesmiles. Here, flocks were seen daily from February 1 to March 10. On 

 warm days they were usually circling back and forth over the cloud forest at 

 8,000 to 9,000 feet, but when, as was usual, that hunting ground was blanketed 

 in wind-driven fog and clouds, they worked over the pines at 6,000 to 7,000 

 feet on the sunny, southern slope of the mountain. All of the specimens taken 

 are typical lepida. 



DISTRIBUTION 



Range. — ^Western North America, and Mexico. 



Breeding range. — The breeding range of the violet-green swallow 

 extends north to Alaska (Iliamna Lake, Lake Clark, Fairbanks, and 

 Circle) ; Yukon (Dawson, Fort Selkirk, and Fifty-mile River) ; and 

 central Alberta (probably Henry House and Red Deer). East to 

 Alberta (Red Deer and Camnore) ; central Montana (Great Falls, 

 Little Belt Mountains, and Billings) ; western South Dakota (Spear- 

 fish, Elk Mountain, and Indian Creek) ; northwestern Nebraska 

 (Squaw Canyon) ; central Colorado (Fort Collins, Boulder, Little- 

 ton, and Beulah) ; central New Mexico (Taos Mountain, Glorieta, and 

 San Mateo Mountains) ; western Chihuahua (Pinos Altos) ; Veracruz 

 (Orizaba); and Oaxaca (Mitla). South to Oaxaca (Mitla) ; State 

 of Mexico (Valley of Mexico) ; and southern Baja California (Cape 

 San Lucas). The western limits of the range extend northward 

 along the Pacific coast from southern Baja California (Cape San 

 Lucas, San Bernardo Mountain, and La Paz) ; to Alaska (Thomas 

 Bay, Cordova, and Iliamna Lake). 



Winter range. — "VVliile the species has been recorded at this season 

 north to central California (Point Reyes, Point Lobos, and Hay- 

 ward) , the normal northern winter limits appear to be southern Cali- 

 fornia (Salton Sea) on the west and northern Veracruz (mouth of the 

 Tuxpan River) on the east. The winter range extends south to west- 

 ern Guatemala (San Geronimo and Chichicostenango) and El Sal- 

 vador (Los Esesmiles and Puerto del Triunfo). This species has 

 been recovered twice from Costa Rica (Matina River and Bebedero), 

 but this country seems to be south of the regular winter range. 



