462 
BIRDS OF NEW MEXICO 
Between Santa Rosa and Roswell, Mr. Gaut saw Barn Swallows every¬ 
day from September 19 to 28, 1902, and wrote, “This beautiful little 
swallow is, without doubt, the most common bird next to the Horned 
Lark on the prairie in the Pecos Valley” (MS). . iLwas also common 
about Roswell, where large numbers were seen mingled with White- 
bellied Swallows. 
At Mesilla Park in the spring migration, it arrives about May 1, 
Professor Merrill states, and often “raises two broods, the second brood 
not coming from the nest until after mid-August. Great flocks gather 
after the first of August and disappear to the south in late September 
and October. Flocks formed of the Barn, Cliff, and Bank Swallows 
are so large sometimes as to fill three telephone or telegraph wires for 
a distance of thirty rods. One wonders where they all could have 
come from” (MS). 
Additional Literature.—Miller, O. T., With the Birds in Maine, 131-141 
1904.— Wright, M. O., Educational Leaflet 32, Nat. Assoc. Audubon Soc. 
CLIFF SWALLOW: Petrochelidon albifrons albifrons (Rafinesque) 
Description. — Male: Length (skins) 4.S-5.3 inches, wing 4.1-4.5, tail 1.8-2.1, 
bill .2-.3, tarsus .4-5. Female: Length (skins) 4.7-5.3 inches, wing 4-4.3, tail 1.8-2, 
bill .2-.3, tarsus .4-.5. Adults: Forehead cream color; croton, back, and chest patch 
glossy steel-blue, the back streaked with grayish or whitish; 
chin, cheeks , and collar chestnut, rump conspicuous cin¬ 
namon-rufous; wings and tail dusky, with a greenish gloss; 
chest and sides pale grayish brown, rest of underparts 
whitish. Young: Similar, but forehead brown, crown and 
back brownish. 
Comparisons. —The rufous upper tail coverts of the 
various forms of the Cliff Swallow distinguish* it from 
all other swallows. The three forms of the Cliff may be 
distinguished by their range in the breeding season; at 
other times by size, the Cliff being the largest of the three; 
also by the color of the forehead, which in the Cliff is 
cream color; in the Lesser Cliff, yellowish brown; and in the Mexican, chestnut like 
the throat. (See p. 465.) 
Range. —Breeds from central Alaska, Mackenzie, northern Ontario, and central 
Quebec south to Virginia, northern Texas, northern New Mexico, Arizona and Lower 
California; migrates through Central America and winters in Brazil, northern 
Argentina, and central Chile. 
Remarks. —The winter ranges of the three New Mexico forms of Cliff Swallow 
have not been worked out, but they probably all go to South America. 
State Records. —One of the most abundant breeding birds in New Mexico, the 
Cliff Swallow occurs throughout the northern part of the State and south at least to 
7,000 feet near Pecos; Taos, 7,000 feet (Bailey); Tres Piedras, 8,000 feet (Gaut); and 
Halls Peak, 8,000 feet (Barber). It also breeds as low as 5,000 feet at Shiprock 
(Gilman); Santa Rosa, 4,600 feet (Weller); and Los Pinos, 4,900 feet (Coues). [At 
Lake Burford in 1918, it was common from May 26, when a flock of 25 appeared, 
Fig. cSO. Cliff Swallow 
