\)0 



VERTEBIIATA. 



tiiiiX in l.-ii-LTi' iniinluTs, aiicl ImiMiiig groups of goiinl-sliapcil nests on the faces of clitfs ; found j 

 tliroiii^lioiit tlic L'nitefl States: Wilson's Wiiite-uellikd Swallow,^, bicolor, a very handsome ! 

 species, also known throu-rhout our country; the Thalassina Swallow,^. Thalassina, the most j 

 beautiful of the faniilv, f..iiii.I in New Me.\i<;o, CaIifonii;i, and Mexico; the Rougii-winged Swal- 

 low, //. iin-ripciuiis^ found from rennsylvania to Louisiana ; and tlie //. fiilm, common in Jamaica, i 



Omits PROGNK: Pro'itic. — This incindes many specii's, and among tliem the 1'iiiplk Mar- | 

 TIN, /'. pio-piirat, sewn and a half to eiglit inclies long; the entire plumage black, with a silky I 

 purple and bluish luster. This well-known bird is a general inliabitant of the United States, and ' 

 a iiarlicular favorite wlierever he takes up his abode. AVilson says: "I never met with more ■ 

 than one man who disliked the martins and would not permit them to settle about ]iis house. 

 This was a penurious, close-fisted German, who liated them because, as he said, 'they ate his ' 

 peas.'' I told him he must certainly be mistaken, as I uevcr knew an instance of martins eating 

 peas; but he replied with coolness, that he had many times seen them himself 'blaying near the , 

 hife, and going schnip, schnap,'' by which I understood that it was his bees that had been the suf- , 

 ferers ; and the charge could not be denied." 



This sociable and lialf-domesticated bird arrives from the soutli late in April or early in May; 

 its summer residence is universally among the habitations of man, who, having no interest in his 

 destruction, and deriving considerable advantage, as well as amusement, from his company, is 

 generally liis friend and protector. Wherever he comes, he finds some hospitable retreat fitted 

 up for his accommodation and that of his young, either in the projecting wooden cornice on the 

 top of the roof or sign-post, in the box appropriated to the bluebird, or, if all these be Avanting, 

 in the dove-house among the pio-eons. In this last case, he sometimes takes possession of one 

 (]uarter or tier of the premises, in which not a pigeon dare for a moment set its foot. Some peo- 

 }>le have large conveniences formed for the martins, with many apartments, which are usually fully 

 tenanted, and occupied regularly every spring ; and, in such places, particular individuals have 

 been noted to return to the same box for successive years. 



The Purple Mailin, like his half-cousin, the kingbird, is the terror of crows, hawks, and eagles. 

 These he attacks whenever they make their appearance, and with such vigor and rapidity that 

 they instantly liave recourse to flight. So well known is this to the lesser birds and the domestic 

 poultry, that, as soon as they hear the martin's voice engaged in fight, all is alarm and consterna- 

 tion. To observe with what spirit and audacity this bird dives and sweeps upon and around the 

 hawk or the eagle is astonishing. 



There are several species of this genus belonging to South America, one of which, the West- 

 ern Martin, H. ckalyhea^ is sometimes seen within the southern boundaries of the United States. 



Genus CYPSELUS : Cypselus. — This includes several species, called Swifts, of which the 

 American Chimney-Swallow or American Swift, C. acutus — the Acanthylis Pelasgia of Lin- 

 naeus — is a well-known species. It is four to six inches long ; the whole body deep brown, with 

 a greenish luster on the head and neck; the wings very long, extending beyond the tail. The 

 flight of this bird, like that of the other species of the genus, is bold, vigorous, and rapid, the 

 wing-s being bent downward, and kept in constant motion. This laborious flight is kept up, with 

 little interruption, from dawn to twilight, that is, for fourteen hours. The great peculiarity of 

 the species is, that it builds its nest and rears its young, often hundreds together, in chimneys, 

 not of deserted but inhabited houses, though they avoid those in which a fire is kept. The nest 

 is of a singular construction, being formed of very small twigs, fastened together with a strong, 

 adhesive glue or gum, which is secreted by two glands, one on each side of the hind part of the 

 head, and mixes with the saliva. With this glue, which becomes hard as the twigs themselves, 

 the whole nest is thickly besmeared. The nest is small and shallow, and attached by one 

 side or edge to the wall, and is totally destitute of the soft lining with which the others are so 

 plentifully supplied. The eggs are generally four, and white. There are two broods in the sea- I 

 son. The young are fed at intervals during the greater part of the night. The noise which the j 

 old ones make, in passing up and down the funnel, has some resemblance to distant thunder. 

 When heavy and long-continued rains occur, the nest, losing its hold, is precipitated to the bot- 

 tom. In 1857, during a long season of wet, cold weather in June, four hundred and eighty of | 



