384 
SWALLOWS 
612. Petrochelidon lunifrons (Say.). Cliff Swallow. 
Adults. — Forehead white, huffy, or brown; crown, back, and patch on 
chest glossy blue black; throat and sides of head chest¬ 
nut; rump conspicuous pale rufous; belly white. Young: 
similar, but colors duller and pattern less sharply defined ; 
throat usually, and other parts of head sometimes, spotted 
with white ; tertials and tail coverts edged with brown, 
chestnut of head partly or wholly wanting; upper parts 
dull blackish. Length: 5-6, wing 4.05-4.55, tail 2.00- 
2 . 20 . 
Fig. 473. 
Distribution. — North America, from the limit of trees south to the 
southwestern United States; migrates to Central and South America. 
Not recorded from Florida or the West Indies. 
Nest. — A gourd or retort shaped structure made of pellets of mud 
mixed with a few straws, lined with feathers; attached to cliffs or build¬ 
ings. Eggs: 3 to 5, white, speckled or spotted with brown and lilac. 
Food. — Ants and other insects. 
In regions where there are no houses, the retort-shaped nests of 
the cliff swallows are usually found in colonies massed on the side 
of a cliff, under the roof of a cave, or plastered to the branches of 
a giant tree ; but in the settled part of the country the birds seem 
to prefer eaves of barns and houses, and their nests have been 
found in deserted buildings plastered to ceilings and walls. 
There is such a common prejudice against these swallows that 
boys are often encouraged to shoot them with sling-shots in the 
cities, and ranchmen drive them away from their barns, fearing 
that the parasites which infest them will spread to the stock. But, 
as a matter of fact, bird parasites will not live on mammals, and 
the swallows do great good by eating annoying insects. 
612.2. Petrochelidon melanogastra (Swains.). Mexican 
Cliff Swallow. 
Like lunifrons, but “ smaller, with forehead chestnut, like throat and 
sides of head (rarely fawn colored), and rump deep cinnamon.” (Ridg- 
way.) Length: 4.50-5.00, wing 3.95-4.30, tail 2.00-2.20. 
Distribution. — Mexico, south to Guatemala, north to southern Arizona. 
The Mexican cliff swallow' has recently been added to the list of 
United States birds by Dr. E. A. Mearns, who found it breeding in 
southern Arizona. 
GENTJS HIHUNDO. 
613. Hirundo erythrogastra Bodd. Barn Swallow. 1 
Tail forked for about half its length, outside feather tapered to point; 
1 Hirundo erythrogastra palmeri Grinnell. 
Like ei-ythrogastra, but color of under parts deeper, and frontal chestnut band broader 
and darker ; wing and tail somewhat longer and bill smaller. 
Distribution. — Western North America, summering from southern California to Kot¬ 
zebue Sound, Alaska ; west to Unalaska and east to and including the Rocky Mountains. 
{The Condor, iv. 71.) 
