micropodid.e—ch.eturinjE: spine-tail swifts. 



559 



persisted in refusing to recognize borealis as a subspecies till 1897, when it accepted the 

 position I had maintained in the Key since 1872 : see Auk, Jan. 1897, p. 12t), No. 422. 

 The bird is recognized as a full species by Dr. Sclater, and as a good subspecies by Mr. 

 Hartert; and Major Bendire also separates the two forms, though he does not venture to 

 differ from the A. O. U. in nomenclature (Life Histories, ii, 1896, p. 175). The differ- 

 ences are at least as great in size as those separating Chcetura vauxi from C pelagica. In 

 these days, when North American Ornithology has been thoroughly Brehuiized, with hair- 

 splitting and heart-rending super-refinements, the present case can only be explained as a 

 miracle. 



CH.(ETU'RA. (Gr. x"''"'?' chaite, a bristle ; ovpa, oura, a tail. Fig. 375.) Spine-tail 

 Swifts. Tail short, less than half as long as wing, even or a little rounded, mucronate, — the 

 stiff spiny shafts of the feathers protruding like needles beyond the webs. First primary 

 longest. Tarsi naked and skinny. Hind toe elevated, but posterior. Front toes all of about 

 tlie same length, cleft to base. Feathers reaching to but not far below nostrils. Unicolor or 

 bicolor (our species one-colored, sombre.) Se.xes alike. 



C. pela'gica. (Gr. TreXayioy, pelagios, Lat. pclagiciis, pelagic, marine, or oceanic; application 

 to this bird questionable. lu 1758 Linnaeus nauied it Hirundo pelagica, but in 1766 he 



changed the specific term to ^;e- 

 I'lsgia. The IlfXacryoi or Pelasgi 

 were anciently a nomadic tribe, 

 and the implication of the term in 

 ornithology is supposed to be the 

 bird's migration, without any ref- 

 erence to the sea. Gr. adjectival 

 forms of the word are ntXairyiKos. 

 neXdcryios, ntXacryis, ireXacryids, 

 becoming in Lat. Pelasgicus, Pe- 

 Insgius, Pelasgis, Pelasgias, mean- 

 ing Pelasgian, Grecian, Hellenic ; 

 Pelasgia, noun, is found as the 

 name of a certam district of Thes- 

 saly. The adj. Pehtsgicus occurs 

 in Pliny, and pelasgica is the femi- 

 nine form of this, which I adopted 

 in the 2d-4th eds. of the Key. 

 But I now follow the A. 0. U. in 

 revertiug to pclagkri LiXN. 1758, 

 without prejudice to the (juestion 

 of what this word was intended to 

 mean. Figs. 376, 377.) Chi.m- 

 .NEY Swift. Chimney " Sw.vllow." " Chimney Sweep." Sooty-brown, 

 with a faint greenish gloss above ; below jniler, becoming gray on the throat ; 

 wings black; a velvety black space about eyes. Length about 5. (Ml or rather 

 more ; wing the same ; extent about 12.50 ; tail 2.(J0, even or a little rounded, 

 spiny. The sexes are quite alike, and the young hardly differ after tiioy are 

 fully fledged. Eastern L'^. S. and adjoining British Provinces, N. to lat. 54° in the interior, 

 W. to tiie Great Plains, S. in winter to Central America: migratory, and very abundant in 

 summer, but not known to winter within our limits ; migrates in March, April, Sept., and Oct., 

 breeds thnnighout its North American range, mostly in ,Iune .-md .July. Like Swallows, which 

 this bird so curiously resembles, not only iu form, but in mode of lliiriit, food, and twittering 



Fio. 37G. — Chimney Swift. 



