IIIRUNDINID.E — THE SWALLOWS. 



353 



The eo'o's six in lunnlier, in every instance that we noticed, were pure white, 

 about the size of those of the riparia, but a little more uniformly oblong \\\ 

 shape and pointed at one end. Their lengtli varies from .78 to .69 of an inch, 

 the average being .75. Their average breadth is .53 of an inch. 



Genus COTYLE, Boie. 



CotyU, Boie, Isis, 1822, 550. (Type, Hirundo riparia, L.) 



Gen. Char. Bill small ; nostrils lateral, overhung by a straight-edged membrane. Tar- 

 .<?ns about equal to middle toe without claw ; feathered at upper end, especially on inner 

 lace, and having also a small tuft of feathers attached to posterior edge near the hind toe. 

 Middle toe with basal joint adherent externally to near the end, half-way internally, the 

 claws compai-atively little curved, the lateral reaching beyond the base of the middle. Tail 

 slightly forked. Color dull lustreless brown above, in riparia white beneath with gray 

 pectoral band. Nests in holes in banks; eggs white. 



:\Iany American l)irds have been referred to Cotyle, but the only one really 

 belonuinii- to the -^enus is the cosmo- 

 politan C. riparia. The peculiarity of 

 the genus consists essentially in the 

 tuft of tarsal feathers at tlie base of 

 the hind toe, and the unusual length 

 of the lateral claws, combined with 

 the lateral nostrils overhung by mem- ^"'y'' '•'>«'•'■"• 



l)rane. By these characters the genus is very easily distinguished from 

 tSteUjidoptcry.)':. 



Cotyle riparia, Boie. 



BANK SWALLOW ; SAND MARTIN. 



Hirundo riparia, Linn. S. X. I, 1766, 344. -Wils. ; AuD. — Lembeye, Aves de Cuba, 

 1850, 47, lam. vii, f5g. 3. — Jones, Nat. Hist. Bermuda, 34 (occasional, Aug. and 

 Sept.). Cotyle riparia, Boie, Isis, 1822, 550. — Cassin. — Brewer, N. A. Ool. I, 



1857, 105, pi. iv, lig. 49 (eggs). —Cab. Jour. 1856, 4 (Cuba). — Baird, Birds N. Am. 



1858, 313 ; Eev. 1864, 319. — Ib. 1861, 93 (Co.sta Kica [?]). — Gundlach, Cab. Jour. 

 1861, 330 (very rare in Cuba). — March, Pr. A. N. Sc. 1863, 297 (Jamaica ; very rare). 

 Heermann, p. R. K. X, 36 (California ; abundant ?). — Call & B.a.xnister, 280 

 (Ala.ska). — Cooper, Orn. Cal. 1, 1870, 110. — Sa.muels, 258. Hirundo cinerea, 

 YiEiLL. Hirundo riparia amcricana, AIax. 



Sp. Char. Adult. Above grayish-brown, somewhat fuliginous, with a tendency to paler 

 margins of the feathers. Beneath pure white, with a band across the breast and the sides 

 of the body like the back. Length, 4.75 ; wing, 4.00 ; tail, 2.00. 



Young birds have less emarginate tails, and the feathers of back, rump, and wings edged 

 with whitish. 



Hab. The Avhole of North America ; Bermudas ; Greater Antilles ; Costa Rica ; West- 

 ern Brazil (Pelz.). Also found in the northern parts of the Old World. 

 45 



