286 REVIEW OF AMERICAN BIRDS. [PART I. 
Sides of neck and nape brown, like the back, or the former 
only slightly hoary. No distinct spots along the middle 
of epigastrium - - 5 : 5 . - . tapera.! 
+ awae 
PETROCHELIDON, Casanis. 
Petrochelidon, Cas. Mus. Hein. 1850-1, 47. (Type Hirundo melanogaster, 
Swains. = P. swainsoni, Sc.) 
Bill stout and deep, somewhat as in Progne. Nostrils entirely superior, 
Open, without overhanging membrane on the inner (or upper) side, but some- 
what overhung by short bristles, seen also along base of inner mandible and 
inchin. Legs stout; the tarsi short, not exceeding the middle toe exclusive of 
its claw ; feathered all round for basal third or fourth, though no feathers are 
inserted on the posterior face. Tail falling short of the closed wings, nearly 
square, or slightly emarginate ; the lateral feathers broad to near the ends, 
and not attenuated. 
The claws of Petrochelidon are large, and considerably curved. 
In peciloma there is a distinct, though short web connecting the 
' Progne tapera. 
Hirundo tapera, Linn. 8. N. 12th ed. 1766, 345, Brazil (L’Hirondelle 
d@’ Amérique, Brisson, II, 502, tab. 45, fig. 3).—Progne tanera, Cas. 
Schomburgh’s Reise Guiana, III, 672.—Scuater, Catal. 1861.— 
Cotyle tapera, Burm. Uebers. II, 1857, 143 (Brazil). 
?Hirundo pascuum, Max. Beit. III, 1830, 360. 
Hab. Brazil? Bolivia? Bogota? 
Specimens in the museum of the Philadelphia Academy, supposed to belong 
to this species, though from Bolivia and Bogota, resemble fusca very closely, 
but differ in larger and more attenuated bill, shorter toes, and fewer feathers 
on tarsus. ,.The size and color are much the same; but the sides of neck and 
nape lack the hoary white collar obscured behind, nor do I observe the line 
of elongated rounded, partially concealed large brown spots along the median 
line of the belly. "The white of the under parts is not so pure. 
Whether this be the same with the Brazilian tapera, of authors, I have not 
had the opportunity of determining, but would not be surprised to find that 
it was distinct. It is also quite possible that, in the absence of specimens 
actually fromParaguay, I have incorrectly identified Capt. Page’s specimens 
as fusca, and that they are really tapera. 
‘Total length, 6.60; wing, 5.30; tail, 2.85; depth of fork, .45; difference 
of primaries, 2.55; length of bill from forehead, .65, from nostril, .38; along 
gape, .88; tarsus, .54; middle toe and claw, .72; claw alone, 20; hind toe 
and claw, .48; claw alone, .22. ; 
The Hirundo americana tapera, of Sloane (Jamaica, II, 212), the first reference 
quoted by Linnzus, cannot be the present species, as it refers to a Jamaican 
bird which Sloane compares with the European Swift ; it may be either Progne 
dominicensis or Chetura zonaris, quite possibly the latter. It is, therefore, a 
question how far the name tapera can be retained for the species. 
