658 SYSTEMATIC SYNOPSIS. -PICARIM— CYPSELI. 



Subfamily CH/ETURIN/E: Spine-tail Swifts. 



Toes with normal number of phalanges , all but the penultimate ones extremely short. An- 

 terior toes cleft to base (no webbing). Hind toe not reversed, but sometimes versatile ; our species 



have it obviously elevated. Tarsi never feathered; naked 

 and skinny, even on the tibio- tarsal joint. In the prin- 

 cipal genus, Chcetura, containing about two-thirds the 

 species of the subfamily, of various parts of the world, 

 the tail-feathers are stiflened and mucronate by the pro- 

 jecting rhachis. There are over 30 species of these 

 spine-tailed Swifts, in several sections of the genus, by 

 some systematists ranked as separate genera (especially 

 Hemiprocne) ; but they are much alike, and our familiar 

 Chimney Swift is a fair example of them all. Cypseloi- 

 des is an exclusively American genus of 5 or 6 species, 



Fig. 375 — Chfetztrince. Head and mu- r. i . ■ . n^^ t ■ -, 



cronate laii-ieatiier of Chwtura peiagica^nax. one of which occurs m our Country. 1 he third geuus is 

 size. (Ad. nat. del. E. c.) Collocalia, containing the Swiftlets or so-called Salan- 



ganes, some 12 or 15 species of which range widely over warm and temperate parts of the Old 

 World from Africa to Oceania. The Swiftlets include such species as C. fiiciphaga, which 

 build the " edible " nests of their own saliva, more or less mixed with fiicus or other seaweeds, 

 mosses, etc. 



CYPSELOI'DES. (Gr. Kv-<^eKos, kiipselos, Lat. cypselus, the European Swift, Cypselus 

 opus, now called 3Iicropus apiis ; eiSor, eiclos, form, likeness.) Cloud Swifts. Tail forked 

 tar emarginate, with obtusely-pointed but non-mucronate stifBsh feathers. First primary long- 

 est. Tarsi naked, skinny. Hind toe elevated, but perfectly posterior. Front toes cleft to 

 base. Nostrils embedded in feathers. Uuicolor. (Genus Nephoccetes Baird, 1858, correctly 

 JSfephcecetes, as in former editions of the Key, p. 457, where it is said to be "scarcely different'' 

 from Cypseloides ; and I am glad to see that it has been replaced by Cypseloides in the A. 0. U. 



Lists.) 



C. ni'ger borea'lis. (Lat. nicjer, black ; borealis, northern. Our species is a variety of the 

 West Indian C wi^rer. Fig. 374.) Northern Black Cloud Swift. Adult i^ 9 : Entire 

 plumage sooty-black, with slight greenish gloss, little paler below than above; feathers of 

 head and belly with grayish edges. A velvety black area in front of eye ; forehead hoary ; 

 eyelids partly naked. Bill black ; feet probably dusky-purplish in life. Length 7.00 or more ; 

 wing the same; tail 2.75, forked nearly 0.50 in adult ^, merely emarginate in 9 j tarsus 

 0.50; middle toe and claw about the same. Young: Tail rounded; plumage dull black- 

 ish, nearly every feather skirted with white, especially noticeable on belly, rump, and upper 

 tail-coverts and inner wing quills; crissum mostly white; supposed to require several years 

 to perfect the black plumage. Rocky Mts. to the Pacific, U. S. and British Columbia; a 

 great black Swift still imperfectly known; supposed to nest in cliffs up to 11,000 feet: 

 ranges to about 13,000; crops found filled with Ephemeridce. The bird breeds in holes 

 and crevices in cliffs, often inaccessible, like the Rock Swift, in June and July, and it has 

 been observed in so many localities during the breeding season that it may be confidently 

 stated to nest in suitable places nearly or quite throughout its North American range. It is 

 migratory with us, arriving over our borders late in April, and returning in September. It 

 is more common in the Pacific coast region than in the interior, and ranges S. in winter to 

 Costa Rica. The West Indian habitat once assigned was an error, it being that of AT. niger 

 proper, from which our bird differs decidedly in being larger — average wing measure- 

 ments over G.50, instead of about G.OO. I am at a loss to understand why the A. 0. U. 



