PROGNE SUBIS, THE PURPLE MARTIN 445 



cular, opening upward, without nasal scale. Feet large, with 

 strong, much curved claws ; tarsus shorter than middle toe and 

 claw j lateral toes about equalling each other in length ; basal 

 joint of middle toe freer from lateral toes than usual. Tail 

 forked. 



The size of these birds, and their stout, hooked bills, with 

 circular superior nostrils, distinguish the genus from any other 

 of the family. The eggs of our species are white, unmarked. 

 There are two groups to be recognized in Progne. Of one of 

 these, Progne proper, the species are glossy blue-black, with or 

 without snowy-white on some parts ; they have the tail deeply 

 forked, the tarsi nearly naked, and the bill at a maximum of 

 size and curvature. Other species, forming the subgenus or 

 genus Tapera of Bonaparte (1857; = Phceoprogne Baird, 1865), 

 are plain mouse-brown above, with merely emarginate tail, 

 weaker and more depressed bill, and the tarsus feathered along 

 the inner side for two-thirds its length. 



The whole group is confined to America, and the species of 

 Tapera are exclusively South American. The " Purple" Martins 

 range over both divisions of the hemisphere, and one of them 

 is very common in the United States. In this species, and its 

 immediate allies, the adult male is uniform glossy blue-black, 

 with various reflections. In others, of the dominicensis style, 

 the belly and crissum are snow-white. The species to be 

 recognized become uncertain if we attempt to push our dis- 

 criminations to the lengths that some authors have done. 



The Purple Hart in 



Progne subis* 



Hirundo SUbiS, L. SN. i. lOthed. 1758, 192, n. 6 (from Edw. 120). L. SS. i. 12th ed. 1766, 344, 

 n. t.Bodd. Tabl. PE. 1783, 45, pi. 732. Om. SN. i. 1788, 1021, n. 7 (H. freti-hudsonis 

 Briss. ; Hirondelle de la Baie $ Hudson Buff.). Turt. SX. i. 1806, 629. 



Progne subis, Bd. Rev. AB. 1865, 274. Ooues, Pr. Phila. Acad. 1866, 72 (Arizona). Coues, 

 Pr. Bost Soo. xii. 1868, 111 (South Carolina). Cones, Pr. Ess. Inst, v. 1868, 276. Turnb. 



* The Cuban bird, also attributed to Florida, and probably identical with 

 the ordinary North American species, is : 



Progne purpurea, Z>'Or. Ois. Cuba, 1839, 94. Oundl. J. f. 0. 1856, 3.Thienem. J. f. 0. 1857, 

 149 (egg). Brew. Pr. Bost Soc. viL 1860, 306. Oundl. J. f. 0. 1861, 328. 



Progne , Bd. BNA. 1858, 923 (Florida). 



Progne cryptoleuca, Bd. Rev. AB. 1865, 277. Qundl. J. f. 0. 1872, 431. 



Progne subis var. cryptoleuca, B. B. <&R. NAB. i. 1874,332 (Cuba, Florida?, and Baha- 

 mas?). 



Hirondelle bleue, D'Orb. i.e. 



Cuban Martin, B. B. & B. 1. o. 



Other references to the same or a very closely allied bird of South Amer- 



