jOO 



492 WHITE-BELLIED SWALLOW. 



journ in the Middle and Northern States, but collect at night and resort 

 to the sedges and tall plants of the marshes. 



HiRUNDO BicOLOU, Ch. Bonaparte, Sjnops. of Bii-ds of the United States, p. 65. 

 Green-blue or White-bellied Swallow, Hirundo viridis, IVils. Amer. Or- 

 nith. voL iii. p. 44. PL 38. fig. 3. 



/ Adult Male. Plate XC VII L Fig. 1. 



Bill short, feeble, much depressed and very broad at the base, com- 

 pressed at the tip ; upper mandible slightly arched in its dorsal outhne ; 

 gap as wide as the head, and extending to beneath the eye. Nostrils ba- 

 sal, lateral, roundish. Head large, flattened above. Neck short. Body 

 rather slender. Feet very short and feeble ; tarsus and toes scutellate 

 anteriorly ; lateral toes nearly equal, the outer united to the second 

 joint ; claws short, weak, arched. 



Plumage silky, shining, and blended. Wings very long, acute, the 

 first quill longest. Tail of ordinary length, deeply emarginate, of twelve 

 rounded feathers. 



The general colour of the upper parts is steel-blue with green re- 

 flections. Quills* and tail-feathers brownish-black. The under parts are 

 white. 



Length 5\ inches, extent of wings 10 ; bill along the back ^, along 

 the gap f ; tarsus f , middle toe |. 



/ () / Adult Female. Plate XCVIII. Fig. 2. 



The female resembles the male in size and colour. 



