0rtW II. passeres. 
Tribe II. Fissirostres Diurige. 
Family II. HirundtnidjE. 
Th. 
e Sec ond Subfamily, 
HIRUNDININiE, or Swallows, 
towar l S ^ 0r ^ more or less depressed, with the gape very wide, and the sides gradually compressed 
longest 16 ^ ’ t ^ le ^°strils basal, lateral, and rounded ; the Wings lengthened, with the first quill the 
Usil a]| ' 16 m °rc or less forked ; the Tarsi short, generally naked and scutellated ; the Toes 
S and slender ; and the Claw'' moderate and slightly curved. 
Hirundo Linn .* 
^ ill 
tip . ^ ’ muc h depressed, with the gape very wide, and the sides gradually compressed towards the 
fb^ 0 "^ 1 basal, small, oblong, and partly covered by a membrane. Wings lengthened, with the 
b eyond Tail more or less forked, the outer feather of each side sometimes lengthened much 
later a } 6 0l ^ ers ‘ Tarsi shorter than the middle toe and scutellated. Toes long, slender, with the 
Tl 
11 11 equal ; the claws moderate, curved, and acute. 
series of h' i • 
f Cerent r er q . 8 w bich belong to this genus are inhabitants of most parts of the Old and New Worlds, migrating to 
the y can fie,| 1S searc b °f their insect food. When about to remove to a country of more genial temperature, where 
r °°h of house, . b e tter supply of food, they collect in immense flocks, and may be observed thus congregating upon the 
Srn ' J H flocl is t]i lnC - °^ ler bigb buildings, or trees, before their final departure. At other times they seem to prefer, in 
S " L ‘ e Ps, sudfle *1 ne ^^b° ur hood of lakes, rivers, and ponds, over which they fly rapidly near the surface with extensive 
’igageq y changing their course backwards and forwards, for a long time together ; being all the time busily 
° CCfl donall v n ° their food, which consists usually of insects, although some of the species are stated to feed 
’"^times Seeil • T 11 ^ berries. They do not entirely confine themselves to the neighbourhood of water, but aae 
^'filditirra . 1 streets of cities, plains, fields, and gardens, and are often noticed sitting in numbers on the tops 
_ Tino , g -j ^ 
^'ght, that t] 111 branches of trees, resting from the fatigue of their usual occupations. Such is their dexteiity 
/ Jrfl P°sed 0 p r .j a y P oss ess the power of drinking and washing themselves while on the wing. Their nests are mostly 
(W . S- Otlu 
0r n ’"b mixed with straw, variously formed, but generally attached to a building either externally or 
species form “ * ' *’ 
fib feathers. The eggs are usually five or six in number. 
V ' 8 r ass, ]; ri(i( -| s P ec * es form their nests in holes in the ground, in which case they are constructed entirely of loose 
543. f. 1. — Hirundo domestica 
'■“"'•"iTir Um - 
2. > B - of £ 
Sav ‘Rnii ' Cahiri «a 
f. 4. f j L ^h ; 
T m 
4. ir . a \ ieill \t n* 
H. * Jav <inic a a ' ‘ Dlct d> Hist. Nat. xiv. 530. 
$ Sykes, M rr ' Mus - Cars. iv. t. 100., PI. col. 83. f. 2. 
PI. enl. 
B ‘ Ur< pi. 54. 
H r' 1 < ’ at ' T*upl. Berl. Mus. 5 96. — Hirundo 
locouri Savig. Hist, de l’Egypt, Ois. t. 4. 
H. rustica orientalis Schl. 
l 9. fforsf. . i r Kin gd- ii- ph P- 95. — Hirundo 
" ’ Hl ne °xena Gould, B. of Austr. pi. 
6. H. rufa Vieill. Ois. Amer. Sept. 1. t. 60. — H. americana 
Wils. Amer. Orn. pi. 38. f. 1, 2., Audub. B. of Amer. pi. 173. 
7. H. erythrogaster Bodd. PI. enl. 724. f. L - Hirundo rufa 
Gmel. 
8. H. americana Gmel. 
9. ft. frontalis Quoy & Gaim., Voy. de l’Astrol. Ois. t. 12. f. 1. 
10. H. rufifrons Vieill. Ency. Meth. p. 524., Le Vaill. Ois. 
d’Afr.t. 245. f. 1. „ „ 
11. ft. daurica Linn. — Hirundo alpestris Pall. Zoogr. t. 30. 
f 2 • H. erythropygia Sykes ; H. nipalensis Hodgs. 
Ssta bli sh , 
e< l by L 
'nnsus in 1735 ( S y sterna Naturae). It embraces Cecropis of M. Boie (1826), and Herse of M. Lesson (1837). 
