534 BAHAMA SWALLOW. 



The ilight of tliiw lovely Swallow somewhat resembles that of H. l)icolor ( White-ljellied 

 Swallow) and somewhat that of II. horreornm (Barn Swallow), or Ijetter, it is halfway 

 between tlie two. l)eing a little swifter than that of the former and not quite as swift nor 

 as graceful as that of the latter. Tliey liave the haliit of pausing, or seeminglv paushig 

 m the air, observed in the White-bellied, especially wlien flying against the wind. 

 Their movements are, I think, influenced by the heat as tliey Hy more slowly on a warm, 

 still day. The deeply forked tail and slender form causes them to be at once recognized. 

 No note whatever has yet been heavd." 



Through Februar3^we saw them at intervals, but not in large tiocks, and all apj)eared 

 to move from west to east, the Hight beginning in the morning, but they seldom returned 

 by the same route l)y which they went and only on one occasion did we see them turn 

 back toward the Avest. 



On March 8th we came upon a Hock of some twenty or more in a cup-like liollow in 

 the piney woods far to the west of the town of Nassau where the trees had been cut away 

 for the purpose of making charcoal, leaving an open space of some five or six acres. Tlie 

 birds were darting gracefully and rapidly about, much lower than I liad ever seen them 

 keep before, often nearing the tops of the low herl)iage. Here we shot four fine males, 

 the first of which fell only wounded. As I approached him he uttered a clucking note, 

 which attracted the attention of his hurrying comrades and the\' darted down at me as 

 they dashed past, some answering tlie cries of the prostrate l)ird with a low, musical 

 chirping. Upon shooting two or three times at them, hovve\er, they S2:)eedily dispersed, 

 and in a few minutes disappeared. Upon dissecting these specimens I found the genera- 

 tive organs slightly enlarged indicating tliat the birds would breed at no distant time. 



From this date until oiu' tleparture for Audros we did not see a single specimen 

 excepting a solitary individual ol)served flying over a marsh near Rock Creek. We did 

 not meet with the species on Audros. 



On May 27th I saw a single Swallow living over the harbor at Nassau, the first 

 observed since our return to the city, but they did not become common until June ith, 

 and on the lOtli they were fiying about the streets moving (piite slowly and heavily as all 

 Swallows move when about to breed. A few da} s later I saw the Swallows alighting on 

 the ground about the house late in the day pi('king iip strings, feathers, etc., for the nests, 

 and when on the schooner, " Isle of June," just before sailing for New York 1 saw one enter 

 a hole under the eaves of a building which stood on the wharf, so it is highly probable that 

 inbreeding habit they resemble the White-bellied. In 1859 this species was evidently 

 much more numerous on the Bahamas than now, for Dr. Bryant speaks of them as abun- 

 dant during his stay from June 2()tli until May 14tli, and constantly resident to the west 

 of the town. Mr. Cory did not find them on Nassau in winter at all and oidy observed 

 a small colony on Audros in January. Evidently those obserA-ed b_v us during om- visit 

 were all members of the same company seen at diflerent times and I do not think that the 

 entire. number inhabiting the island of New Providence, even in June, amounted to over 

 fifty individuals, nor do I think that the species occiu's elsewhere on the Bahamas in 

 summer, for I could learn nothing of it from the inhabitants of other islands. A species 

 represented by so small a number is certainly quite liable to become extinct. A great 



