CHOEDEILES. 397 



not satisfactory, and we think any attempt to recognize the variations of this species 

 by names will not in the end simplify matters. 



It is somewhat surprising that we know so little of C. virginianus in its southern 

 winter-quarters ; our records of it beyond Mexico are few and far between, though they 

 extend over a vast extent of the southern continent, even as far as Patagonia ! 



C. virgmianvs lays its eggs in open situations on the ground and on rocks, and even 

 on the flat roofs of houses. The eggs, two in number, are of the oval shape usual in 

 this family ; the ground is of various shades of stone-colour, with slaty and yellowish- 

 brown markings diffused over the whole surface. 



2. Chordeiles texensis. 



Chordeiles texensis, Lawr. Ann. Lye. N. Y. vi. p. 167 ' ; ix. pp. 120 *, 204 ' ; Mem. Bost. Soc. N. H. 



ii. p. 291"; Bull. U. S. Nat. Mus. no. 4, p. 31 '; Scl. P. Z. S. 1866, p. 134' j Sumichrast, 



La Nat. v. p. 249 " ; Boucard, P. Z. S. 1883, p. 451" -, Ridgw. Pr. U. S. Nat. Mus. x. p. 581 ' ; 



Salv. Ibis, 1889, p. 368"; Cherrie, Auk, 1892, p. 324"; Hartert, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. 



xvi. p. 616 '\ 

 Chordeiles acutipennis, var. texensis, Baii-d, Brew., and Ridgw. B. N. Am. ii. p. 406 ''. 

 Chordeiles brasilianus. Cab. J. £. Orn. 1862, p. 165"; v. Prantz. J. f. Orn. 1869, p. 314". 



Supra niger undique cervino efc griseo albido variegafcus, capite summo colore nigro magis obvio, supereiliis 

 indistinctis albidis, tectricibus alarum maculis rotundis albidis ornatis ; cauda nigro fasciata, area iuter 

 fascias griseo variegato : subtus gnlae lateribus nigro et cervino variegatia, gula macula triangulari magna 

 alba, pectore summo nigricante fulvo intermixto, imo griseo irrorato, abdomine et tectricibus subalaribus 

 cervinis nigro regulariter transfasoiatis ; alis primariis quatuor extemis macula magna mediana alba, 

 primariis internis et tectricibus majoribus fulvo transversim maculatis; Cauda infra nigra, in pogonio 

 intemo cervino late fasciata, fascia subterminedi alba efc pogonio externo albo maculato. Long, tota 

 circa 9'0, alae 7"2, caudae rectr. med. 3-9, rectr. lat. 4-5, tarsi 0-55, dig. med. cum ungue 0'72. (Descv. 

 maris ex Duenas, Guatemala. Mus. nostr.) 



$ mari similis, macula gulari cervino, maculis remigum quoque cervinis, et macula caudali subterminali nulla 

 distinguenda. 



Hob. North Amer[ca, Southern frontier States '^^. — Mexico, San Antonio, San Pedro, San 

 Agustin, Monte Morelos in Nuevo Leon {F. B. Armstrong), Altamira and Xicotencal 

 in Tamaulipas ( TV. B. Michardson ^^), Mexicalcingo '^^, Coapa i^, Culhuacan, 

 Chimalpa in the valley of Mexico {F. Ferrari-Perez), Atotonilco, San Baltazar 

 in Pueblai2 [F. F.-P.), Sierra de Alamos i- (TF. Lloyd), Mazatlan {Grayson^ 

 Forrer^-), San Bias {Grayson^), Santana near Guadalajara {TV. Lloyd^-), Plains 

 of Colima (TF. B. Bichardson^^), Juchatengo {Al. Trujillo^-), San Mateo, Sta. 

 Efigenia (Sumichrast ° ''), Tonala (W. B. Bichardson ^-j, N. Yucatan s, Cozumel I.^o 

 {G. F. Gaumer), Merida (Schott'^); Guatemala, Duenas, San Geronimoi^, Cohan 

 (O.S'.<& F. P. G.) ; Honduras, Euatan I. {G. F. Gaumer ^% Trujillo {Townsend ^) ; 

 Nicaragua, Eealejo {0. S.'^^); Costa Rica, Rio Tirribi {Zeledon^), San Jose 

 i Cherrie ^^); Paxama, Veraguas (Arce). 



Chordeiles texensis is a northern form of the South-American C. acutipennis, from 



