PASSERES — CAPRIMULGIDjE — CHORDEILES. 
35 
with the Whippoorwill, or sometimes earlier. Its first appearance is known by a booming 
sound heard high in air, while the bird itself is unseen. When a boy at school, I remember 
to have heard this mysterious sound along the Connecticut river, and was told that it was the 
Shad Spi?it, announcing to the scholes of shad, about to ascend the river, their impending 
fate. This may probably have been derived from the traditionary mylhisms of the Indians. 
This species is often confounded with the Whippoorwill by persons not conversant with 
natural history, but a slight attention to their generic differences will establish their distinctive 
characters. Mr. Giraud remarks, that from the shortness of the legs and feet of the Night 
Hawk, it is always observed, when perched, to be sitting lengthwise of the branch. 
The Night Hawk has a wide range from Mexico to the Arctic islands, where, as the sun 
never sets during its stay, it cannot be considered as a nocturnal species. 
FAMILY HIRUNDlNIDsF. 
Bill very short, broad at base, compressed at the end. Upper mandible with few or no bristles 
at its base ; its edge inflected, with a notch more or less distinct. Gape wide. Nostrils 
oblong, contiguous, basal. Feet very short. Toes very short; the three anterior subequal; 
the hind toe very small, more or less versatile. Claivs strong, compressed, curved, acute. 
Wings extremely long, falciform. Tail various, of ten or twelve feathers. Plumage 
compact. 
GENUS CHiETURA. Stephens. 
Tail-feathers ten, stout; the shafts elongated into points projecting beyond the webs. Edge 
of upper mandible with an indistinct sinus. Tarsus bare, not scutellate, longer than the 
middle toe, which scarcely exceeds the outer. Second quill longest. Flight irregular. 
THE CHIMNEY SWALLOW. 
Ch.etura pelasgia. 
PLATE XXVII. FIG. 58. 
(STATE COLLECTION. Male and Female.) 
Hirundo pelasgia, Linn. Chimney Sicallow, Wilson, Orn. Am. Vol. 5, p. 48, pi. 39, fig. 1. 
Cypselus pelasgius. Bonapakte, Obs. No. 175; Ann. Lyc. N. Y. Vol. 2, p. 63. 
Chimney Swift ox Swallow. Nuttall, Man. Orn. Vol. 1, p. 609. Audubon, fol. pi. 158; Orn. Biog. Vol, 2, 
p. 329, and Vol. 5, p. 419. 
Chimney Swallow, or American Swift. In. B. of A. Vol. 1, p. 164, pi, 44 (male and female). 
American Swift, C. pelasgia. Giraud, Birds of Long Island, p. 33. 
Characteristics. Deep sooty brown. Chin, and line over the eye, dull whitish. Wings 
extending an inch and a half beyond the tail, which is even. Length, 
4-5 inches. 
5' 
