316 BULLETIN 15 5, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



pleasing coloration. As one climbs over steep slopes in the moun- 

 tains among dead trunks of pine a long-tailed swallow may come 

 circling through the air to display in passing a white breast and 

 glossy back. In its active evolutions it is certain to attract the eye 

 and the traveler is sure to pause to observe its course as it circles 

 quickly away. In choice of haunts and general habits it is suggestive 

 of the violet-green swallow of North America. 



In the Dominican Republic, Cory encountered Sclater's swallow 

 near La Vega, and in July and August, 1883 prepared a series of 

 specimens of which there are still twenty-three in the Field Museum 

 collections including the type of the species. Four others secured 

 at this time are in the United States National Museum. The type 

 of sclateri (Field Mus. Nat. Hist. no. 10,874) is a male taken August 

 2, 1883, a bird in slightly worn plumage. It has the following 

 measurements : wing 113.0, tail 53.0, culmen from base 6.0, tarsus 10.0 

 mm. Christy in 1895 also found this swallow near La Vega, and 

 Verrill in 1907 reports it abundant there along the Rio Camu. 

 Abbott on October 13 and 14, 1916 collected three near Jarabacoa 

 at 550 meters altitude, the lowest altitude at which he recorded it. 

 Near El Rio he took others October 4 and 7, 1916, and May 17, 1919, 

 and at Constanza shot specimens September 27, 1916, and April 21, 

 1919. He reported that they were nesting in May. Beck secured 

 specimens on Loma Rucilla February 27 and March 5, on Loma Tina 

 January 10 and 24, and on Pico del Yaque February 24, 1917. 



In 1927 Wetmore recorded these swallows at El Rio May 18, and 

 at Constanza May 18 and 27. On May 30 they were seen regularly 

 from El Rio to Paso Bajito on the trail to El Barrero but were not 

 observed beyond this point. Near Constanza occasional birds came 

 flying over the streets of the town, particularly during storms when 

 the air above the village was clear while heavy fogs concealed the 

 surrounding hills. The birds were regularly at home about knolls 

 where standing trunks of dead trees afforded them nesting cavities. 

 About such places they circled tirelessly, swinging gracefully out 

 among the pines or over the dense stands of rain-forest, but returning 

 always to more open localities. Birds that were assumed to be males 

 uttered a pleasing song on the wing, a simple repetition of two notes 

 given without much variation in tone. Ciferri collected skins at 

 Puente Yuna near Bonao January 5 and 7, 1928. 



From the fact that Cory, Christy, and Verrill found these swal- 

 lows abundant near La Vega in late summer while Wetmore did 

 not observe them there in May it seems probable that they nest in 

 the higher hills and come down into the lowlands when their young 

 are on the wing. This supposition is borne out further by the fact 

 that Cory collected immature birds near La Vega in late July, 1883. 



