428 



NORTH AMERICAN BLKDS. 



Gents NEPHCECETES, Haird. 



Ncphmxtes, Baird, Birds X. Am. 1858, 142. (Tyi>p, llinuuh nUjra, Gmel.) 



Gex. CiiAn. Tail idtlier loss than hull' tlio wings ; quitu deeply forked (les.s so in the 

 female) ; the feathers obtusely aeuniinate ; the shaft.s scarcely stillcned. First quill 

 longest. Tarsi and toes comiiletely bare, and covered with naked skin, without distinct 

 Indications of scutellic. Tarsus i ;itlier longer than middle toe ; the throe anterior toes 

 about equal, with moderately stout claws. Claw of middle toe much shorter than its 



Neplmrrtex niger. 



digit. Hind toe not versatile, but truly posterior and opposite, with its. claw rather 

 longer than the middle toe without it. Toes all slender; claws moderate. Nostrils 

 widely ovate, the feathers margining its entire lower edge. 



The comparative characters of this genus will be found in the diagnostic 



tables at the head of the 

 family. According to 

 Sclater, Ci/psfloidcs of 

 Streubel (Isis, 1848, 

 366) with C.fuiuif/atus 

 as type, r.4;iy luve to be 

 taken for this genus, as 

 it was named by Streu- 

 bel as an alternative 

 to Hemijirocne, which 

 belongs to Chat urn. 

 Until this question 

 of synonymy can be 

 decided positively, we retain Nephivretes. 



The single North American species, N. nrr/rr, has a singular distribution, 

 being abundant near Puget Sound in summer, and again found in Jamaica 

 and Cuba, M'ithout having been met witli in any intermediate locality, 

 except in the Province of Huatasoo, Mex. The West India specimens are 

 rather smaller, but otherwise not distinguishable. 



Nephacftfs nii^fr. 



