6*0 BIRDS. PASSERES. IIinuNDo. 



/. Commissure of the bill straight. 

 y, EUl angular, slender, pouited. 



Sitta. 

 gg. Bill strong and rounded. 



h. Bill more or less inflated at the base. 

 Pyrrhula. 

 Coccothraustea. 

 Pyrgita. 

 hh. BUI exactly conical 

 Fringilla. 

 ff. Commissure of the bill Interrupted. 

 Sturnus. 

 bb. Ridge of the upper mandible obviously curved. — Nostrils cover- 

 ed with defluted feathers. 

 0. Feathers of the front loose, Bud capable of beb^g erected into 

 a crest. 

 Garrulus. 

 cc. Front feathers plain. 

 d. Tail produced. 



Pica, 

 dd. Tail of ordinary siza 

 Corvus. 

 1. Bill slender, produced. TENuinosTUES. 

 a. Claws long and hooked, for climbing trees. 



Certhia. 

 aa. Claws of ordinary dimensions. 

 Pyrrhocorax. 

 Upupa. 



II. First and second toes adJiering nearly to tlieir ea'trcmity. 

 Alcedo. 



Gen. XIX. HIRUNDO. Swallow.— The first quill the 

 longest. Tail forked, of twelve feathers. Nostrils partly 

 closed by a membrane, and covered with feathers. One 

 of the toes behind. All the species are common summer 

 \7isitants. 



85. H. rustka. The Swallow. — Front and chin chesnut- 

 rcd. 



H. domestica, Will. Orn. 155. Sihh. Scot. 17 — H. rus. Linn. Syst. i. 343. 

 White, Phn. Trans. 1775. 258 — Chimney-Swallow, Penn. Bnt. Zool. i. 

 398 — Temm. Orn. i. 427 — W., Gwennol, Gwenfol; O, Gobhlan- 

 gaoith. 



Length 7, breadth 12 inches ; weight 1 ounce. Bill black, irides hazel, 

 tongue and palate yello^vish. Legs and feet dusky. Forehead and chin 

 chesnut-red. Plumage, above, black, with a gloss of purple ; beneath, with 

 the breast black, the rest dusky white. Two middle tail-feathers plain, the 

 rest marked on the inner webs, near the ends, with an oval white spot. In 

 the female, the tail-feathers are much shorter, there is less red on the front, 

 and more white beneath. The nest is in chininejs^ or in out -hoxises, i>pon or 



