PEOGNE SDBIS, THE PURPLE MARTIN 445 



cular, opening upward, without nasal scale. Feet large, with 

 strong, much-curved claws ; tarsus shorter than middle toe and 

 claw ; lateral toes about equalling each other in length ; basal 

 joint of middle toe freer from lateral toes than usual. Tail 

 forked. 



The size of these birds, and their stout, hooked bills, with 

 circular superior nostrils, distinguish the genus from any other 

 of the family. The eggs of our species are white, unmarked. 

 There are two groups to be recognized in Progne. Of one of 

 these, Progne proper, tlie species are glossy blue-black, with or 

 without snowy-white on some parts ; they have the tail deeply 

 forked, the tarsi nearly naked, and the bill at a maximum of 

 size and curvature. Other species, forming the subgenus or 

 genus Tapera of Bonaparte (1857 ; = Phwoprogne Baird, 1865), 

 are plain monse-brown above, with merely emarginate tail, 

 weaker and more depressed bill, and the tarsus feathered along 

 the inner side for two-thirds its length. 



The whole group is confined to America, and the species of 

 Tapera are exclusively South American. The " Purple" Martins 

 range over both divisions of the hemisphere, and one of them 

 is very common in the United States. In this species, and its 

 immediate allies, the adult male is uniform glossy blue-black, 

 with various reflections. In others, of the dominicensis style, 

 the belly and crissum are snow-white. The species to be 

 recognized become uncertain if we attempt to push our dis- 

 criminations to the lengths that some authors have done. 



The Purple ITIartia 



Progne snbis* 



HIrundo snbis, L. SN. i. lOthed. 1758, 192, n. 6 (from Bdw. laO).— i. SN. 1. mh ed. 1766, 344, 

 n. I.—Bodd. Tabl. PE. 1783, 45, pi. 72S.— (Jm. SN. 1. 1788, 1021, n. 7 (S. freti-hudsonis 

 Briss. ; BirondeUe de la Bate d'Hudaon Buff.).— IVrt. SX. i. 1806, 6-29. 



Progne snbis, Bd. Eev. AB. 1S65, 274.— Co«e«, Pr. Phila. Acad. 1866, 72 (Arizona). —Oo«e», 

 Pr. Boat Soc. xii. 1868, 111 (South Carolina).— Ooiies, Pr. Ess. Inst. v. 1868, 276.— Titmb. 



* The Cuban bird, also attributed to Florida, and probably identical with 

 the ordinary North American species, is : — 



Progne purpurea, D'Ori. Ols. Cuba, 1839, 94.— (Jimdl. J. f. 0. 1856, 3.—Thienem. J. f. 0. 1857, 

 149 (egg).— Brew. Pr. Boat Soo. vii. 1860, 306.— Chmdl. J. f. 0. 1861, 328. 



Progne , Bd. BNA. 1858, 9-23 (Florida). 



Progne crrptoleuen, Bd. Eev. AB. 1865, fin.—Gundl. J. f. 0. 1872, 431. 



Progne subis var. cryptolenca, B. B. <eB. KAB. i. 1874,332 (Caba, riorida!, and Baha- 

 mas)). 



Hlrondelle blene, D'Orb. l.o. 



Cuban Martin, B. B. <£ ii. 1. o. 



Other references to the same or a very closely allied bird of South Amer- 



