314 



U. S. p. R. R. EXP. AND SURVEYS — ^ZOOLOGY — GENERAL REPORT. 



In a female from New Leon the wing is lialf an inch less than in females from Carlisle. In a 

 specimen from Charleston the colors of the throat and breast extend farther down on the belly. 



In the young of the year the wing feathers above are edged quite broadly with pale brownish 

 rusty, the throat and breast are also tinged more or less with the same. 



List of specimens. 



PROGNE, Boie. 



Progne, Boie, Isis, 1826, 971. Type Hirunde purpurea, L. 



Ch. — Bill strong, short ; the gape very wide ; the sides gradually compressed, the culmen and lateral margins arched to the 

 tip ; the latter inflected ; the nostrils basal, lateral, open and rounded. Tail considerably forked. Tarsi shorter than the middle 

 toe and claw, about equal to the toe alone. Toes long, strong ; lateral ones equal. 



The large size, very stout bill and feet, (for this family,) with the usually uniform black 

 glossy plumage, readily distinguish this genus among the swallows. But one specie^ is well 

 established as North American. 



PROGNE PURPUREA, Boie. 



Purple JHartin. 



Hirundo purpurea, Linn. Syst. Nat. I, 1766, 344. — AnnoBON, Orn. Biog. 1, 1831, 115 ; pi. xxiii.— Ib. Birds Am. I, 



1840, 170; pi. xlv. 

 Progne pmpurea, Boie, Isis, 1826, 971.— Bon/p. List, 1838.— Cassin, Illust. 1, 1855, 245.— Brewbii, N. Am. Oology, 



I, 1857, 103 ; pi. iv, fig. 47, (egg.) 

 Hirundo suhis, Linnaeus, Syst. Nat. I, 1766, 344, (second year.) 

 Hirundo violacea, Gm. Syst. Nat. I, 1788, 1026. 

 Hirundo carnUa, Vieillot, Ois. Am. Sept. I, 1807, 57 ; pi. xxvi. 

 " Hirundo versicolor, Vieillot, Nouv. Diet. XIV, 1817, 509," 

 " Hvundo ludoviciana, Cuvier, R. An. 1, 1817, 374." 



