14 



" Saticoy, 50 feet ; lat. 31^ 27'. Seen May 14.. 



" Haywood (east side of San Trancisco Bay) ; lat. 37° 40'. Arrives Jan. 28-30. 



" Shot at San Erancisco, winter of 1854 (Cutis). 



"N. Sacramento, May 1853 {Hepburn). Two broods." 



Mr. Evermann says that in Ventura County, in California, it is an abundant summer 

 resident. Many breed in the holes of the Avillows near the mouth of the Santa Clara 

 river. 



Mr. L. Bclding, in his notes on the birds of Central California, observes: — "This 

 bird was seen at ]\Iarysville, February 1, 1878, and nearly every day thereafter until 

 March 5. During the following March and April it was very abundant at Stockton, 

 flying over the countiy in all directions, esj)ecially over the tule swamps. In May, 

 when it was less abundant, I noticed two nests in casings over doors of private dwellings. 

 I have not recognized it at Murphy's or Big Trees. A large scattered flock was seen at 

 Stockton as late as December 5, 1878." He also states that it was often seen bv him in 

 winter in Lower California. 



The Central- American range of the species is well given in the ' Biologia Centrali- 

 Americana ' by Messrs. Salviu and Godman, who have a considerable series from Mexico 

 in their collection. The precise localities where the species has been obtained in that 

 country appear to be the following : — Guaymas, Sonora, December and April {L. Beld- 

 ing), Mataraoras [Couch), Mazatlan (Grai/son), Plateau of Mexico [Sumichrast, Le 

 Strange), San Jose {Salic), Jalapa {de Oca), Orizaba {Sumichrast), Pine-ridge above 

 Mirador {Sartorius). Messrs. Salvin and Godman write : — " There is no positive evidence 

 of the species breeding in Mexico, thougli it is included by Prof. Sumichrast amongst 

 the resident birds of the Plateau of ^Mexico, and a specimen was obtained by Dr. Sartorius 

 in the pine-region above Mirador, in the month of June. In Guatemala it is a winter 

 visitant to the tablelands and to the neighbourhood of San Geronimo in Vera Paz, where 

 it is frequently found associating with T. thalassinus." 



It has not yet been recorded from Yucatan, but may possibly cross that country on 

 migration, on its way to and from Guatemala. It may be also the species mentioned 

 in Henderson's ' Honduras ' (London, 1809, p. 119), and quoted by Dr. Coues in 

 his ' Birds of the Colorado A^alley ' : — " Myriads of Swallows are also the occasional 

 inhabitants of Honduras. The time of their residence is generally confined to the period 

 of the rains, after which they totally disappear. There is something remarkably curious 

 and deserving of notice in the ascent of these birds. As soon as the daAvn appears, they 

 quit their place of rest, which is usually chosen amid the rushes of some watery 

 savannah, and invariably rise to a certain height, in a compact spiral form, and which 

 at a distance often occasions them to be taken for an immense column of smoke. This 

 attained, they are then seen separately to disperse in search of food, the occupation of 

 tlieir day. To those who may have had an opportunity of observing the phenomenon of 

 a watersjiout, the similarity of evolution, in the ascent of these birds, will be thought 

 surprisingly striking. The descent, which regularly takes place at sunset, is conducted 

 in much the same way, but with inconceivable rapidity. And the noise which accom- 



