PASSERES — HIRUNDINIDJB — HIRUNDO. 41 



THE CLIFF SWALLOW. 



HlRTJNDO FULVA. 



PLATE XXX. FIG. 87. 



(CABINET LYCEUM.) 



Hirundo fulva. Vieillot, Vol. 1, p. 62, pi. 32. 



H lumfrons. Say, Long's Expedition, Vol. 2, p. 47. 



H fulva. Clinton. Ann Lye. N. Y. Vol 1, p. 156. Bonaparte, Am. Omith. Vol. I, p. 63, pi. 7, fig. 1. 



Republican or Cliff Swallow. Audubon, fol. pi. 68; Ornith. Biog Vol. 1, p. 353, and Vol. 5, p. 415. 



Fulvous or Cliff Swallow, Nuttall, Orn. Manual, Vol. 1, p. 603. 



11. lunifrons. Richardson, F. B A. Vol. 2, p. 331. 



H. fulva, Audubon, B. of A. Vol. 1, p. 177, pi. 47. Giraud, Birds of Long Island, p. 38. 



Characteristics. Blue-black above ; beneath brownish white. Throat and rump rust- 

 colored. Front with a pale semilunar band. Tail even. Length, 5£ 

 inches. 



Description. Bill rather short. Tail very slightly emarginate, not longer than the wings. 



Color. Bill and feet dusky. Jrides dark brown. A narrow black line extends over the 

 bill to each eye. Front white or reddish white, and the remaining part of the crown black, 

 violaceous. Chin, throat and cheeks dark chesnut extending in a narrow band on the hind 

 part of the neck. Rump and some of the tail-coverts pale reddish. Breast reddish ash. 

 Inferior wing-coverts ashy brown. The exterior tail-feathers slightly edged with whitish on 

 the inner vane. 



Length, 5-0-5-5. Alar extent, 12" - 13-0. 



The history of this species is curious. It was first noticed* by Vieillot at St. Domingo 

 and Porto Rico, in large flocks, in the middle of May. He published a description of this 

 species, with an indifferent figure. Nothing further was known about it, until Say observed 

 it in 1820 in great numbers in the Rocky mountains. Unacquainted with Vieillot's descrip- 

 tion, he called it Hirundo lunifrons. In the interim, a solitary pair appeared near Whitehall 

 at the south end of Lake Champlain, and every succeeding year appeared in greater num- 

 bers, and extended farther west and south through this State. The celebrated Dewitt Clinton, 

 in 1824, sent a description of this bird to the Lyceum of Natural History of New- York, 

 naming it H. opifex, which he was induced to change upon reading Vieillot's description. In 

 1820, it was observed by Capt. Franklin in latitude 65° north. Swainson, in the seventh 

 volume of Griffith's Cuvier, has also given it as new, under the name of melanogaster. It 

 has appeared on the coast of this State within the last two years, and Mr. Bell has observed 

 its nest in Rockland county. 



* I have a note that it was seen in great numbers at Dennisville, Maine, in 1795, but the authority is not remembered ; 

 in! it is scarcely probable that so distinct a species, with such remarkable habits, should not have attracted the attention 

 of natural. sts. 



[Fauna — Part 2.] 6 



