268 HIRUNDO LUNIFRONS — THE CLIFF SWALLOW. 



No birds have greater control of their wings than swal- 

 lows, with the exception of the humming birds, and the 

 light and airy manner in which they wheel, dart or glide is 

 very beautiful. Now they rush forward with scarcely a 

 movement of wing; suddenly their course is altered, and 

 the bright metalic tints of their backs gleam in the sun- 

 shine ; another change, and their white breasts are seen, 

 and all this time the little insects that form their food are 

 being captured and swallowed with scarcely a movement 

 to show how it was done. Thousands of small moths, flies 

 and other insects are destroyed by these birds, and the 

 hosts that would otherwise ravage our fields and gardens 

 are thus thinned. 



The White Bellied Swallow may be easily distinguished 

 from its congeners by its glossy, metalic bluish green upper 

 parts, and its white throat, breast and abdomen. The tail 

 is not forked like the Barn Swallow, but the outer feathers 

 are a little longer than the inner. 



Total length 6i inches. 



HiRUNDO LuNiFRONS, Sal/.— The Cliff or Republican 

 Swallow. 



This species was first described by Thomas Say, in 1823, 

 in the narrative of Long's Expedition to the Rocky Moun- 

 tains. Audubon discovered it in 1815, on the banks of the 

 Ohio River, but his description was not published until 

 1824. The name repuhlicana, then given to this species 

 by him, was subsequently dropped for that of fulva, in this 

 author's Ornithological Biography. Both names are, how- 

 ever, superceded by that of Say, the latter having the 

 priority. 



