38 
HIRUNDO AMERICANA. 
ance of the flight of this bird, and its similarity to tha^ 
of the swift of Europe, strangers from that counti^ 
have also asserted that the swift is common to NortO 
America and the United States. No such bird, hoi*" 
ever, inhabits any part of this continent that I have a* 
yet visited. , 
The purple martin is eight inches in length, an® 
sixteen inches in extent ; except the lores, which aij' 
black, and the wings and tail, which arc of a bron nisj 
black, he is of a rich and deep purplish blue, wita 
strong violet reflections; the bill is strong, the gi^ 
very large ; the legs also short, stout, and of a daif 
dirty purple; the tail consists of twelve feathers, a 
considerably forked, and edged with purple blue ; tb* 
eye full and dark. 
The female measures nearly as Large as the male ; tN 
upper parts are blackish brown, with blue and viol* 
reflections thinly scattered; chin and breast, grayis* 
brown ; sides under the wings, darker ; belly and vet>' 
whitish, not pure, with stains of dusky and yellow ochr*' 
wings and tail, blackish brown. 
71 . HIRUNDO AMERICANA, WILS. — BIRUNDO RCIFA, GMEI.Il'' 
BAKX SWALLOW, WILSOX. 
■WILSOX, PLATE XXXVIII. FIG. I. MALE. FIG. II. FEMALE. 
There are but few persons in the United Statd 
unacquainted with this gay, innocent, and active lift* 
bird. Indeed the whole tribe are so distinguished frw 
the rest of small birds by their sweeping rapidity ^ 
flight, their peculiar aerial evolutions of wing over Op 
fields and rivers, and through our very streets, frw 
morning to night, that the light of heaven itself, tb' 
sky, the frees, or any other common objects of natiit* 
are not better known than the swallows. We welcoi"* 
their first appearance with delight, as the faithf' 
harbingers and companions of flowery spring, and riid^ 
summer ; and when, after a long, frost-bound, aw 
boisterous winter, we hear it announced, that “ 
