CYPSELUS.] AVES INSESSORES. 159 



DIMENS. Entire length five inches two lines : length of the bill (from 

 the forehead) three lines, (from the gape) six lines ; of the tarsus five 

 lines and a half; of the tail two inches one line ; from the carpus to the 

 end of the wing four inches. 



DE SCRIPT. All the upper parts, cheeks, and a transverse band on the 

 breast, cinereous or mouse-coloured brown : wings and tail inclining to 

 dusky brown : throat, fore part of the neck, belly, and under tail-coverts, 

 white : tarsi and toes naked, with the exception of a few small feathers 

 near the origin of the hind toe. In young birds, all the upper parts of 

 the plumage are edged with pale reddish brown ; the tail-feathers with 

 yellowish white. (Egg.) White : long. diam. eight lines ; trans, diam, 

 six lines. 



First seen about the beginning of April. More locally distributed than 

 either of the preceding species. Found only in the neighbourhood of 

 sand-pits and the high banks of rivers, in which situations it builds, 

 excavating a horizontal hole in the loose soil to the depth of two or 

 three feet. Nest placed at the extremity of the hole, formed of dry 

 grass and straw, and lined with feathers. Eggs four or five in number. 



GEN. 50. CYPSELUS, Illig. 



134. C. Apus, Flem. {Common Swift.) Chin white ; 

 all the rest of the plumage black. 



C. murarius, Temm. Man. d'Orn. torn. i. p. 434. Id. torn. in. p. 303. 

 Common Swift, Selb. Illust. vol. i. p. 127. pi. 42. f. 4. Swift, 

 Mont. Orn. Diet. Bew. Brit. Birds, vol. i. p. 296. 



DIMENS. Entire length eight inches: length of the bill (from the 

 forehead) three lines and a half, (from the gape) eight lines and a half ; 

 of the tarsus six lines ; of the tail three inches four lines ; from the carpus 

 to the end of the wing five inches ten lines and a half: breadth, wings 

 extended, seventeen Inches. 



DESCRIPT. Throat grayish white: all the rest of the plumage above 

 and below sooty black, with greenish reflections: wings and tail ex- 

 tremely long; the latter much forked: tarsi covered with small fea- 

 thers: irides deep brown: bill and feet black. (Egg.) White: long, 

 diam. one inch; trans, diam. eight lines. 



Late in its arrival, seldom shewing itself before the beginning, and in 

 some parts of the country not till near the end, of May. Departs also 

 much sooner than the other species of this family ; generally about the 

 middle of August. Haunts churches, towers, and other lofty buildings, 

 in the holes of which it breeds. Nest formed of dried grass, and lined 

 with feathers. Eggs two in number. Only one brood in the season. 

 Feeds entirely on insects, taken on the wing. Flight high, and extremely 

 rapid. 



135. C. alpinus, Temm. {Alpine Swift.) General 

 colour of the plumage grayish brown : throat, and middle 

 of the abdomen, white. 



C. alpinus, Temm. Man. d'Orn. torn. i. p. 433. Id. torn. in. p. 303. 

 Greatest Martin, Edw. Nat. Hist. vol. i. pi. 27. White-bellied 

 Swift, Lath. Syn. vol. n. p. 586. 



