484 pi:rchixg ijirus 



of habit to some of the n)-catcher.s, and are accordingly associated 

 with that group. It should be understood, however, that some of 

 the resemblances they show to the IMuscicapidie in the matter of 

 structure may be due to adaptation to a particular mode of life, and 

 not to affinit)-. 



From both the thrush (Turdidas) and flycatcher (Muscicapidae) 

 tribe, swallows and martins differ by having nine in place of ten 

 primary quills ; but this difference need not apparently be regarded as 

 one of an\- great imijortancc. The tail has twelve feathers ; the front 



of the shank of the leg is nearly 

 smooth ; and the beak is very short 

 and wide, with a gape extending 

 backwards nearly to the line of the 

 eyes ; while the legs are extremely 

 short and weak. Both sexes are 

 alike in the matter of plumage, of 

 which there is only one moult (in 

 spring) ; bristles at the gape of the 

 beak are but feebl}' developed ; and 

 the young in first plumage are not 

 spotted. In moulting only before 

 their arrival in the British Isles the 

 Hirundinida,' are unlike all other 

 migratory birds. Their song is a 

 series of low twittering notes. 



With the exception of New Zea- 

 land (where, however, an occasional 

 SWALLOW. wanderer from Australia makes its 



appearance), swallows and martins 

 are practically cosmopolitan birds, wandering in summer far into 

 the Polar regions. They all have great power of flight, and in the 

 colder parts of the temperate regions are strictly migratory, making 

 their appearance, as a rule, in the spring and departing in the 

 autumn. In the tropics, however, there are resident specie-s. All 

 capture their food, consisting of small in.sects, in the air during flight. 



The swallow is the typical representative of a genus whose 

 geographical distribution is coextensive with that of the family. The 

 shank of the leg and the toes are bare of feathers, the plumage of 

 the upper-parts is, wholly or in part, steel)- blue, and the tail is 

 generally (as in the present species; deeply forked, with a notch on 

 the inner borders of the pair of long outer feathers. All the species 



MOUNTED IN TH6 ROWLAND i 



