HIRUNDINJE. 73 



one in Ireland, this species not migrating regularly so far 

 northward as Britain. Common in the south of Europe. 



Alpine Swift. 



Hirundo Melba, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. 345. Cypselus alpinus, 

 Temm. Man. d'Ornith. i. 433. Cypselus Melba, White-bel- 

 lied Swift, MacGillivray, Brit. Birds, iii. 611. 



32. CYPSELUS MURARIUS. BLACK SWIFT. 



Blackish-brown, slightly glossed with green ; throat grey- 

 ish-white ; length about seven and a half inches. 



Male, 7, 16^, 7, J, & and f, ^ and , ^ and . Female, 

 7 T V, 15*. 



Arrives in the beginning of May, and departs in the end of 

 August. Generally dispersed in Britain and Ireland. Resorts 

 to steeples, towers, ruinous castles, and abrupt rocks, where 

 it nestles in holes or crevices. The nest is rudely constructed 

 of straws, fibrous roots, moss, wool, hair, and feathers, agglu- 

 tinated. The eggs, two or three, are pure white, of an elon- 

 gated form, an inch in length, seven and a half- twelfths in 

 breadth. 



Black Martin. Swift. Screech. Develing. 



Hirundo Apus, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. 344. Cypselus mura- 

 rius, Temm. Man. d'Ornith. i. 434. Cypselus murarius, Black 

 Swift, MacGillivray, Brit. Birds, iii. 614. 



FAMILY V. HIRUNDIN^E. HIRUNDINE 

 BIRDS, OR SWALLOWS. 



Body moderately short, rather compressed ; neck very 

 short ; head broad, depressed. Bill very short, much 

 depressed, opening to beneath the fore part of the eye ; 

 upper mandible with the dorsal line slightly convex, the 

 edges with a slight notch close to the slender tip ; lower 

 mandible with the angle very wide, the dorsal line nearly 

 straight, the tip narrow, but rather obtuse ; gape -line 

 nearly straight. Palate flat ; tongue short, triangular, 

 sagittate and papillate at the base, with the tip bifid ; 

 oesophagus wide at the commencement, then narrow ; 

 stomach broadly elliptical, with the muscular coat thick, 

 forming two moderate lateral muscles, the cuticular lining 

 thin, dense, broadly rugous ; intestine short, rather wide ; 



