78 ZOOLOGY. 



species, which I have often found in precisely similar circumstances. They were of a grey- 

 brown color marbled with black, had large, dark, soft eyes, and were quite passive when 

 caught. To the credit, be it said, of therude men into whose hands they had fallen, their mild 

 looks and silent appeals were not unheeded, and they were carefully deposited where they were 

 found, with a kind wish that their mother might return to them. 



CHORDEILES VIRGINIANUS. 

 The Night Hawk. 



The night hawk is common in all parts of the country which we visited, lying between San 

 Francisco and the Columbia. We saw it nearly every evening, and sometimes during the day, 

 pursuing its insect food precisely as in the eastern States. 



ACANTHYLIS VAUXII? 



The Chimney Swallow. 



The chimney swallow is common in California, but we saw nothing of it in Oregon. We, 

 however, could obtain no specimens, owing to the height at which it generally flew. 



HIRUNDO RUFA. 

 The Barn Swallow. 

 Not uncommon about houses and out-buildings in California and Oregon. 



HIRUNDO LUNIFRONS. 

 The Cliff Swallow. * 



Common in Oregon and California. I found it nesting in the cliffs on the shore of San Pablo 

 bay, and in the city of San Francisco, California, and it is quite abundant in the Willamette 

 valley, in Oregon. In the sterile basin to the eastward of the Cascade Range swallows are 

 much less numerous than in the fertile valleys near the coast. The insects, which form their 

 food, are also noticeably rare in the interior, and the aggregate of animal life is in all depart- 

 ments small. 



HIRUNDO BICOLOR. 



The White-bellied Swallow. 



Found in the vicinity of San Francisco, California. 



HIRUNDO THALASSINA. 



Violet Green Swallow. 



Not uncommon in the valleys of California, and on the Columbia, in Oregon. 



COTYLE RIPARIA. 



The Bank Swallow. 



Not uncommon throughout California. We occasionally saw this and the next species occu- 

 pying their characteristic burrows. We probably sometimes confounded them, as they are only 

 to be distinguished by careful inspection. 



