CHAP. XVIII.] 



BIRDS. 



281 



The Hirundinidae, or Swallows, are true cosmopolites. Al- 

 though they do not range quite so far north (except as stragglers) 

 as a few of the extreme polar birds, yet they pass beyond the 

 Arctic Circle both in America and Europe, Cotyle riparia having 

 been observed in the Parry Islands, while Hirundo rustica has 

 been seen both in Spitzbergen and Nova Zembla. Cotyle riparia 

 and Chelidon urhica also breed in great numbers in northern 

 Lapland, latitude 67° to 70° north. Many of the species also, 

 have an enormous range, the common swallow (Hirundo rustica) 

 inhabiting Europe, Asia and Africa, from Lapland to the Cape of 

 Good Hope and to the Moluccas. The genera of swallows are 

 not well determined, a number having been established of which 

 the value is uncertain. I admit the following, referring by 

 numbers to the Hand List : — 



^215 — 221 226 — 228^ Hirundo (40 sp.), the range of the entire 

 family ; (^^2 223^ Fsalidoprogne (10 sp.). Tropical and South Africa ; 

 (22*) Phedina (1 sp.), Madagascar and Mascarene Islands ; (22^) 

 Petrochelidon (5 sp.), North and South America and Cape of Good 

 Hope; (229 — 232 ?234') Atticora (8 sp.), the Neotropical region and 

 ? Australia; (^^^ ^^'^) CotyU (11 sp.), Europe, India, Africa, North 

 America, Antilles and Ecuador ; (2^^) Stelgidopteryx (5 sp.). La 

 Plata to United States ; {^ ''•"' 239) chelidon (6 sp.), Paleearctic 

 region, Nepal, Borneo ; (2*° ~ 2*^) Progne (5 sp.), all North and 

 South America. 



Family 31.— ICTEEID^. (24 Genera, 110 Species.) 



General Disteibution. 



The Icteridse, or American hang-nests, range over the whole 

 continent, from Patagonia and the Falkland Islands to the 

 Arctic Circle. Only about 20 species inhabit the Nearctic 

 region, while, as usual with exclusively American families, the 

 larger proportion of the genera and species are found in the 



