nw 



NnlJTII AMERICAN UIUDS. 



cns^iiMi, ' it all the ffaflicrs always with tliisky shafts, and niort' or less rloiidt'd wiih prray 

 (MMitrally. <'V('n thoiiLrh I'atliiiL' into whitish to llu" f<lL;fs. This is particularly appri'ciaMc in 

 the lonirer crissal iV'aihers. Tlu' t-dLics of the dark feathers of throat and juj^iilum are 

 usually paler, imparting sc^niewhat of a liinnlated apiH'araiiee, theii- centres sometimes 

 con-'ideralily darker. eausinLr an apj)earanc'e ot" obsolete spots. There is a tendency to a 

 j^'rayish collar on sides (if neck, and },'enerally traeeahle to the iiajie ; this, in one specimen 

 (.').4!>"_') from California, Itein;.' hoary ^'lay, the foreheatl simdar. 



The yomii,' male of the second year is similar to the female, with the steel-Mue apj>ear- 

 iiifj in patches. 



Total len<:th (of 1.")<>1). 7.o(>; winir. <).(>(>; tail. .'5.40: dilTcrence hotween inner and outer 

 feather. ."'> ; dilfeience Itetween lirst and ninth <iuills, 'J.SS; lenirth of hill irom forehead, 

 ..V) ; from n<»stril, .^U : aloiiL' ,iLra[»e, AH: width ol" trapc. .74: tarsus, .Gl : middle toe and 

 claw, .SO; «-law alone, .lio; hind toe and claw. ..")4 ; claw alone, .27. 



IIab. The whole of the Cnited States and the Provinc»'s; Saskatchewan; Cape St. 

 Lucas and Northern Mi'xico (winter): Orizalia (Si'micmijast) : IJt'iinuda. Accidental in 

 Eni.dand. South American and West Indian hirds apparently hclonir to other races. 



Maiiv Western adult males are coiisideraMv less violaceous than auv East- 



•- « ft 



ern one ; Imt there is so much variation in this respect anions specimens from 

 one locality, that this ditiereuce in lustre does not seem of much im- 

 portance. 



An adult female (Xo. ()l,o01,(). A. Iloardman) from Lake Harney, Florida, 

 is so unlike all other si»ecimens in the collec'tion as to almost warrant our 

 considering it as representing: a distinct local race. It difVers from females 

 and younn males of all the other races (except clcijaufi, from which it differs 

 in other strikiniLj particulars) in the followini; respects: Above, the lustrous 

 steel-hlue is uninterrupted, the forehead and na})e U-'ing uniform with the 

 other T)(»rtions ; heneath, dark smokv-urav, inclinini;- to whitish on the middle 

 of the abdomen; the jugulum and crissum have a faint j^loss of steel-blue, 



the feathers of the latter bordered 

 with grayish-white. The chief difter- 

 ence from c/tyans is in lacking the 

 cons}»iciU)Us grayish-white border to 

 the leatiiers of the whole lower part, 

 the surfac^e beinii uniform instead of 

 conspiciKuisly S(piamated, Wing, o.GO ; 

 tail, aOO ; fork of tail, .80 deei>. 



Habits. The Pur}>le Martin is em- 

 jdiatically a bird common to the whole 

 of North America. It breeds from 

 Florida to high northern latitudes, 

 and from the Atlantic to the Pacific. 

 It is verv abundant in Florida, as it 

 is in various other ])arts of the country 

 farther north, and the large flocks of migrating bir<ls of this species which 

 pass through Eastern ^lassachusetts the last of September attest its equal 

 abundance north of the latter State. It occurs in I>ermuda, is resident in the 



Prosne subis. 



