﻿512 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM vol. loo 



Tlie call, a rising chrrr, was not unlike that of the purple martin 

 {Progne suhis suhis) although not so loud or so often repeated. It 

 also had a "song," a warbling, rather musical chrrr chrrrr chee chrrr. 



PHAEOPKOGNE TAPERA TAPERA (Linimens) 



Hirundo tapera Linnaeus, Systema naturae, ed. 3, vol. 12, pt. 1, 1766, p. 345 

 (northeastern Brazil). 



SPECIMEN COLLECTED 



1 9 , Cantaura, August 17, 1947; gonads very small; iris dark brown; gizzard 

 contained insects; bird in fairly worn feathering. 



The collector saw this swallow only once, when a flock of about 20 

 was encountered near water on the open savanna and the present ex- 

 ample was collected. 



STELGIDOPTERYX RUFICOLUS AEQUALIS Bangs 



Stelgidopteryx ruficollis aequalis Bangs, Proc. New England Zool. Club, vol. 2, 

 1901, p. 58 (Santa Marta, Colombia). 



SPECIMEN COLLECTED 



1 cf , Caicara, November 2, 1947; gonads small; bird apparently juvenal; skull 

 not ossified; edges of gape fleshy, iris brown; gizzard contained insects; for a 

 young bird remarkably adult in plumage. 



The Caribbean rough-winged swallow occurs across northern 

 Venezuela south to the Orinoco drainage basin and westward into 

 Colombia. 



This swallow was abundant on the Guarapiche River at Caicara; 

 it was not seen at Cantaura. At Caicara it was often seen in flocks 

 of over a hundred birds and was recorded during February, March, 

 AprU, August, September, November, and December. 



The call was a rising chirwp. 



HIRUNDO RUSTICA ERYTHROGASTER Boddaert 



Hirundo crythrogaster Boddaert, Table des planches enlumin^ez, 1783, p. 45 

 (Cayenne) . 



SPECIMEN COLLECTED 



1 cf , Cantaura, March 21, 1948; gonads small; iris dark; gizzard contained 

 small beetles; molting from juvenal into adult plumage. 



Apparently the molt is a very slow and prolonged affair, as in 

 another collection a similar male, in postjuvenal m.olt, was taken on 

 the Rio Negro in northern Brazil, on October 10 (Friedmann, Proc. 

 U. S. Nat. Mus., vol. 97, 1948, p. 524). 



The barn swallow was quite common at Cantaura and Ca,icara 

 during April, May, August, September, and October. It was seen 

 customarily in small flocks of less than 20 birds, the maximum being 

 about 40. Particularly in the fall the flocks would come over fljnng 



