258 BULLETIN 15 5, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



Academy of Natural Sciences taken at Caracol, Haiti, April 28, 1928, 

 by James Bond with the wing 166.0, tail 85.3, culmen from base 4.4 

 and tarsus 14.7 mm. 



As the Cuban bird does not winter in Cuba but goes elsewhere 

 it is not surprising that it should occur in migration in Hispaniola. 

 Further collecting should be carried on to indicate its abundance. 



Order MICROPODIFORMES 

 Suborder Micropodii 



Family MICROPODIDAE 

 Subfamily Chaeturinae 



NEPHOECETES NIGER NIGER (Gmelin) 

 ANTILLEAN BLACK SWIFT, VENCEJO, GOLONDRINA, RTRONDELLE NOIRE 



Hirundo nigra Gmelin, Syst. Nat., vol. 1, pt. 2, 1789, p. 1025 (Hispaniola). 



Vencejo, Oviedo, Hist. Gen. Nat. Indias, Libr. 14, cap. 2 ; reprint, Madrid, 1851, 

 p. 442 (common). 



Petit Martinet Noir, Montbeiixard, in Buffon, Hist. Nat. Ois., vol. 6, 1779, pp. 

 668-669 ( " Saint-Domingue " ) . 



Hirundo Apos Dominicensis Bkisson, Ornith., vol. 2, 1760, pp. 514-515, pi. 46, 

 fig. 3 (" S. Domingue "). 



Hirundo nigra, Vieillot, Hist. Nat. Ois. Am€r. Sept., vol. 1, 1807, p. 64 

 (habits).— Hartlaub, Isis, 1847, p. 609 (listed). 



Cypseloides niger, Cory, Cat. West Indian Birds, 1892, p. 105 (Haiti, Domini- 

 can Republic). — Hartert, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., vol. 16, 1892, p. 495 (La Vega, 

 specimen). — Verrill, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, 1909, p. 360 (Samanft,). 



Nephoecetes niger, Cory, Birds Haiti and San Domingo, July, 1884, pp. 88-S9, 

 1 fig. (La Vega, specimens). — Tippenhauer, Die Insel Haiti, 1892, p. 322 

 (listed).— Christy, Ibis, 1897, p. 329 (La Vega). 



Nephoecetes niger niger, Griscom, Auk, 1924, pp. 68-71 (discussion). — Bond, 

 Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, vol. 80, 1928, p. 502 (La Selle, Morne 

 Tranchant, Port-au-Prince). — Danforth, Auk, 1929, p. 368 (Dominican Re- 

 public). — Moltoni, Att. Soc. Ital. Scienz. Nat., vol. 6S, 1929, p. 317 (Bonao, San 

 Juan, specimens). 



Resident; locally common, in a few places abundant. 



The black swift is of a family often confused with the swallows — 

 which belong in a separate order among the perching birds — because 

 of its swallowlike form. It feeds in similar manner by capturing its 

 prey in open mouth on the wing, but by one reasonably expert in 

 ornithology may be told without trouble by its flight which is much 

 more rapid than that of swallows, and is performed with greater dash 

 and speed. Black swifts are usually seen in little flocks that feed 

 rather high in air. Often they are difficult to secure for specimens 

 as they never perch on tree limbs but alight only against the faces of 

 cliffs or in hollow trees. 



