DESCRIPTION OF A HYBRID ( HIRUNDO HORREORI-LUNI- 
FRONS) BETWEEN TWO NORTH AMERICAN SWALLOWS. 
BY SPENCEE TROTTER. 
The bird from which the following description is taken was shot 
at Linwood, Delaware County, Pa., May 22, 1878, by Mr. C. D. 
Wood, whose attainments as an ornithological collector are well 
known. Unfortunately he did not carefully determine its sex by 
dissection, though he believed it to have been a male. My atten- 
tion was first called to it by his informing me that he had shot 
a cross between the Barn and the Cliff Swallow ; and from the fol- 
lowing description it will be seen that the bird presents the moie 
strongly marked features of both Hirundo liorreorum and Petroche- 
lidon lunifrons. This blended likeness stamps it as a hybrid between 
the two above-mentioned species. The specimen has been exam- 
ined by several competent ornithologists, who all pronounce its 
hybrid nature as unquestionable. The bird is remarkable not only 
as being the result of a mesalliance between two different species, 
but between two different genera, and it curiously combines the 
characters of both 'in a most marked degree. I have therefore 
named the bird Hirundo horreori-lunifrons, this name suggesting 
the nature of the hybrid in question. 
Description. — Bill similar to that of the Barn Swallow (Hirundo erythro- 
gastra var. liorreorum), hut rather stouter. Nostrils opening laterally, par- 
tially overhung by membrane, though not so much so as in the above-named 
species. Tarsi about as long as middle toe without the claw, feathered at 
the upper end on the inside. Toes cleft as in liorreorum; the lateral claws 
reach to base of nfiddle. Tail forked for about one fourth of its length, 
with white spots on the rectrices, but not so strongly marked as in horreo- 
rum ; and the outer feathers are not lengthened and linear as in that spe- 
cies The wings, when folded, reach nearly to end of tail. Head and 
back steel-blue with a chestnut-brown frontlet, as in liorreorum, the chest- 
nut extending farther back on the head than in that species. Rump 
reddish-white, the color paler than in the Cliff Swallow ( Petrochehdon 
lunifrons). Wings similar to those of horreorum. Throat and breast 
chestnut-brown, with a slight central black patch, as in lunifrons, and a 
pe toral band as in horreorum. Sides under the wings and under parts 
generally of a shade varying between that of horreorum and lunifrons. 
Crissum reddish-white, the longer feathers with a slight smoky tinge. 
Lores dusky ; rictus slightly bristled. Cheeks steel-blue, as in horre- 
orum, but with a slight tendency to chestnut, as in lunifrons. Dimen- 
sions (from the dried skin) : length, 5.88 ; wing, 4.63 ; tail, 2.69. 
Bull. N.O.Q. 3, July, 1878, p. 
