HIRtJNDtNID^. 49 



all our South African goatsuckers by its large size and deeply 

 forked tail. 



Le Vaillant states he found two specimens in a hollow tree, on the 

 banks of the Lion's Eiver, Namaqualand ; but Sundevall declares that 

 the bird is nothing more than Nyctibiiis Grandis of Guiana, with a 

 false tail put into it, and that Le Vaillant's account of its capture 

 is also false. 



The Second Sub-Tribe, PISSIROSTRE^ DIUR- 

 N^, or Diurnal Pissirostral Birds, 



are distinguished from the nocturnal species by the closeness 

 of their plumage. 



The Second Family, HIRUNDINIDiE, 

 or Swallows, 



have the bill short and weak, very broad at the base, and 

 suddenly compressed to the tip ; the wings lengthened, 

 narrow, and acute ; the tail more or less forked, the tarsi 

 very short and weak. 



The Sub-Family, CYPSELIN^, or Swifts, 



have the bill short, depressed, broad at the base, the sides 

 suddenly compressed to the tip, and the margins inflected ; 

 the nostrils large and longitudinal on each side of the 

 culmen ; the wings extremely long and curved ; the tarsi 

 short and weak ; the toes short, thick, and armed with short, 

 strong, and much curved claws, the hind toe usually directed 

 forward. 



Genus CYPSELUS, Illiger. 

 Bill short and depressed, with the gape very wide, and the 

 sides gradually compressed to the tip, which is curved ; the 

 nostrils basal, lateral, and large, with the opening longi- 

 tudinal on each side of the culmen, and the margins beset 

 with small feathers ; wings lengthened, with the second quill 

 longest ; tail moderate, forked, or uneven ; tarsi very short, 

 and feathered to the base of the toes ; toes all directed for- 

 wards, short, thick, and armed with short, curved, and com- 

 pressed claws. 



74. CypseluS Melba. (Linn.) C. Alpinus, Temm. ; 



Le Martinet d gorge blanche, Le Vail., PI. 243 ; C. 



Gutturalis, Vieil., Cuv., Vol. 2, p. 60. 

 General colour above light hair- brown ; below the same, 

 but with the throat, chin, and bellv white ; the sides of the 



