78 
HIRUNDO FULVA. 
GENUS VIII HIRUNDO, LiNJt-EUs. 
14. BISVNDO FULVA, VIEILL FULVOUS, OR CLIFF SWALl-<r 
BONAPARTE, PLATE VII. FIG. I. 
With the exception of a very imperfect descript',?! 
little was known relative to this interesting- W 
anterior to Long’s expedition to the Rocky Mounts'® 
One of the notes annexed to the account of that jour's 
contains an excellent description of this swallow, 
a notice of its habits, and remarkable manner of build'* 1 - 
Mr de Witt Clinton has recently published a paper® 
the same subject, accompanied by some observat><® 
from Mr Audubon. Combining what these gentle® 1 ? 
have made known with the information previo®',, 
given by Vieillot and Say, we can present a toler®" 
complete history of the cliff swallow. 
Some doubts having been entertained whether r 
Hirundo lunifrons of the Rocky Mountains be the ss®, 
species as the Hirundo fulva of the western part of I* 
York, I was desirous of deciding the question ') 
comparing the specimens ; this I accomplished thrO®| 
the politeness of Dr Dekay of New York who, "T. 
the kindness and liberality distinctive of those' 
cultivate science for its own sake, sent me the speci®’?, 
and nest deposited by Mr Clinton in the cabinet of 
Lyceum. Thus being possessed of the individual*' 
question, we are enabled to place their specific ide®®' 
beyond the reach of future uncertaintv- 
That 8ay considered his Hirundo lunifrons as a ® e j 
bird, is entirely attributable to the incorrectness . 
Vieillot’s figure, which is one of those better suite*! 
mislead than to assist the naturalist in his resear 
The most striking characteristic of the Hirundo ful^J 
its even tail, yet Vieillot has represented this pa 1 ® j 
forked. We are, therefore, not surprised that our leaf®, ; 
zoologist, who had no opportunity of consulting * 
