162 



Supr^ seneo-nigra; dorso postico albo; subtus dorso concolorj in ventre superiore in cineraceum transiensj 

 ventre inferiore castaneo ; crisso et subalaribus albis ; rostro nigro, pedibus fuscescenti-nigris : long, 

 tota 5"7j alse 4"0, caudse 1"9, rostri a rictu 0'9. Fern, mari similis. 



Hab. in Guiana, Venezuela, Columbia interiore, et Amazonia tota. 



The last and most aberrant member of the family of Puff-birds, for which Gould proposed the 

 generic name Chelidoptera in 1836, is at once recognizable by its long Swallow-like wings and 

 short squared tail, not to mention its compressed beak and other characters. Two forms of this 

 bird are found in South America, which, although very closely allied in every essential point, 

 may be fairly distinguished as representative species. We will commence with the most long- 

 known and widely distributed form. 



The " Smaller Swallow-wing " (as I propose to call this bird in English), although not 

 included by Linnseus in the latest edition of the ' Systema Naturae, was made known to us 

 shortly after the publication of that work in the writings of Buffon and Pallas. Both these 

 naturalists, as well as Latham and Gmelin, considered our species a Cuckoo ; but in 1806 it 

 was correctly transferred by Le Vaillant to the family to which it undoubtedly belongs. 



The older writers received their specimens of this species from Cayenne and Surinam, and 

 Temminck, who figured it in 1825 as '■' Monasa tenebrio,'' says that it is found in every part of 

 Guiana. Schomburgk, speaking of British Guiana, says that although the bird is so common 

 he could never find its nest. " It sits (like Monasa atra) high, and usually on the outer 

 branches of the trees." 



From Guiana the present bird extends into Venezuela and over nearly every part of 

 Amazonia that has been visited by naturalists. Goering obtained it to the south-east of Merida 

 in Venezuela, Wallace at Para and on the Rio Negro, "abundant" in both localities, and 

 Bartlett, Whitely, and Hauxwell at various stations on the rivers of Upper Amazonia. 



Mr. Edward Bartlett tells us (P. Z. S. 1873, p. 295) that the Swallow-wing " breeds in 

 holes in the banks, about two feet deep, and lays two beautifully polished white eggs, very 

 much like those of the Kingfisher in shape and appearance." One of the eggs obtained by 

 Mr. Bartlett on the Ucayali on the 18th of September 1865 is just such as he describes, of a 

 pure and shining white, measuring 0-95 in. by 0*75. It is figured in the accompanying Plate, 

 and is the only egg of any member of this family that I have ever seen. 



In the 'Journal fiir Ornithologie ' for 1853 Bonaparte described a supposed new species of 

 this genus from Cumana in Venezuela, as Chelidoptera alhipennis ; and in my ' Synopsis of the 

 Bucconidse' I gave a figure of the typical specimen in the French national Museum, at the same 

 time expressing some doubts as to the validity of the species. A subsequent examination of the 

 type confirmed those doubts ; and I have little hesitation in pronouncing Clielidoptera albipemiis 

 to be merely an example of the present species with incipient albinism. 



I subjoin a list of the representatives of this species in my collection and that of Messrs. 

 Salvin and Godman, \^%th their localities and dimensions : — 



