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182 CYPSELIDE, SWIFTS.—GEN. 116. 
tigated its relationships to the South American form. Lawr., Ann. Lye. v. | 
1851, 114; Cass, Ill. 238s Bp. 154; Coors, 044... 2.) .) SLEXENSINe 
Family CYPSELID. Swifts. 
Fissirostral Picarice: bill very small, flattened, triangular when viewed from 
above, with great gape reaching below the eyes. Wings extremely long, thin and 
pointed (frequently as long as the whole bird) ; the secondaries extremely short 
(nine?). Tail of ten rectrices, variable in shape. Feet small, weak; tarsi naked or 
feathered ; hind toe frequently elevated, or versatile, or permanently turned side- 
ways or even forward ; anterior toes completely cleft, the basal phalanges extremely 
short, the penultimate very long, the number of phalanges frequently abnormal ; 
claws sharp, curved, never pectinate. Sternum deep-keeled, widening behind, its 
posterior margin entire. Eggs narrowly oval, white. For pterylosis see parE 1. 
‘“*One of the most remarkable points in the structure of the Cypselide is the 
great development of the salivary glands. In all the species of which the nidifi- 
cation is known, the secretion thus produced is used more or less in the construc- 
tion of the nest. In most cases it forms a glue by which the other materials are 
joined together, and the whole nest is affixed to a rock, wall, or other object against 
which it is placed. In some species of Collocalia, however, the whole nest is made ~ 
up of inspissated saliva, and becomes the ‘edible bird’s-nest’ so well known in the 
East.” (ScraTer.) 5 ; 
A well defined family of six or eight genera and about fifty species, inhabiting 
temperate and warm parts of the globe. They are rather small birds of plain 
plumage, closely resembling swallows in superficial respects, but with no real 
affinity to these Oscines. The family is divisible into two subfamilies, according to 
_the structure of the feet. 
Subfamily CYPSELINA. Typical Swifts. 
3 joints like the 2d; hind toe reversed (in Cypselus, where nearly 
all the species belong) or lateral (in Panyptila); tarsi feathered 
HIG: fis Bae (in Cypselus); toes also feathered (in Panyptila). Contains only 
foot. these two genera and nearly half the species of the family. Of 
Panyptila there are only three well determined species, all American ; while Cypselus 
has upward of twenty, mostly of the Old World; the three or four American 
ones are sometimes detached under the name of Tachornis. 
(7 Ratio of the phalanges abnormal, the 3d and 4th toes having each 
116. Genus PANYPTILA Cabanis. 
White-throated Swift. Black or blackish; chin, throat, breast and middle 
line of belly, tips of secondaries, edge of outer primary, bases of tail 
feathers and a flank patch, white. Length 53-6; wing the same; tail about 
22, forked, soft. Southwestern U. 8. and southward, breeding in colonies 
on cliffs. Acanthylis saxatilis WoopnousE, Expl. Zuni River, 1853, 64; 
Cypselus melanoleucus Bpo., Proc. Phila. Acad. 1854, 118. Cougs, ibid. 
1866, Ds. Bp sills (COOP ay oAde m cites) ots wks ee oe ence MORPA TTT 
