ROUGH-WINGED SWALLOW.
Hirundo serripennis.
On the afternoon of the 20th of October 1819, I was walking along the shores of a forest-margined lake, a few miles from Bayou Sara, in pursuit of some Ibises, when I observed a flock of small Swallows bearing so great a resemblance to our common Sand Martin, that I at first paid little attention to them. The Ibises proving too wild to be approached, I relinquished the pursuit, and being fatigued by a long day’s exertion, I leaned against a tree, and gazed on the Swallows, wishing that I could travel with as much ease and rapidity as they, and thus return to my family as readily as they could to their winter quarters. How it happened I cannot now recollect, but I thought of shooting some of them, perhaps to see how expert I might prove on other occasions. Off went a shot, and down came one of the birds, which my dog brought to me between his lips. Another, a third, a fourth, and at last a fifth were procured. The ever-continuing desire of comparing one bird with another led me to take them up. I thought them rather large, and therefore placed them in my bag, and proceeded slowly toward the plantation of William Perry, Esq., with whom I had for a time taken up my residence.
The bill and feet of the Swallows were pure black, and both, I thought, were larger than in the Sand Martin; but differences like these I seldom hold in much estimation, well knowing from long experience, that individuals of any species may vary in these respects. I was more startled when I saw not a vestige of the short feathers usually found near the junction of the hind toe with the tarsus in the common species, and equally so when I observed that the bird in my hand had a nearly even tail, with broad rounded feathers, the outer destitute of the narrow margin of white. At this time my observations went no farther.
Doubts have been expressed by learned ornithologists respecting the identity of the Common Sand Martin of America and that of Europe. Some of them in their treatises write Hirundo riparia? or Cotyle riparia? which in my opinion is foolish, especially if no reason be given for appending so crooked a character. About two years ago, my friend the Rev. John Bachman, sent me four Swallow’s eggs accompanied with a letter, in which was the following notice:—“Two pairs of Swallows resembling the Sand Martin, have built their nests for two years in succession in the walls of an unfinished brick house at Charleston, in the holes where the scaffoldings had been placed. It is believed here that there are two species of these birds.” The eggs which my friend sent me differ greatly from those of our Common Sand Martin, being so much longer, larger, and more pointed, that I might have felt inclined to suppose them to belong to the European Swift, Cypselus murarius. But of the birds which had laid them no particular account was given. Time has passed; and during the while I have been anxious to meet again with such Swallows as I had shot near Bayou Sara, as well as to determine whether our Common Sand Martin be the same as that of Europe. And now, Reader, I am at last able to say, that the Sand Martin or Bank Swallow, Hirundo riparia, is common to Europe and America; and further, that a species, confounded with it in the latter country, is perfectly distinct.
I perhaps should never have discovered the differences existing between these species had I not been spurred by the remarks of Vieillot, who, in expressing his doubts as to their identity, and perhaps holding in his hand the bird here spoken of, says that the tarsus is much larger than in the European Sand Martin. I have been surprised that these doubts did not awaken in others a desire to inquire into the subject. Had this been done, however, I should probably have lost an opportunity of adding another new species to those to whose nomination I can lay claim, not to speak of such as, although well known to me previous to their having been published by others, I have lost the right of naming because I had imparted my knowledge of them to those who were more anxious of obtaining this sort of celebrity. I have now in my possession one pair of these Swallows procured by myself in South Carolina during my last visit to that State. Of their peculiar habits I can say nothing; but, owing to their being less frequent than the Sand Martin, I am inclined to believe that their most habitual residence may prove to be far to the westward, perhaps in the valleys of the Columbia River.
I regret that I have not figured this species, though it would have proved exceedingly difficult to exhibit in an engraving the peculiar character presented by the outer quill, unless it were much magnified.
The specific characters of these two Swallows, so nearly allied, are as follows:—
Fig. 1.
Hirundo riparia. Tail, Fig. 1, slightly forked, margin of first quill smooth, tarsus with a tuft of feathers behind; upper parts greyish-brown, lower whitish, with a dusky band across the fore part of the neck.
Fig. 2.
Hirundo serripennis. Tail, Fig. 2, slightly emarginate, margin of first quill, Fig. 3, rough with the strong decurved tips of the barbs, tarsus bare; upper parts greyish-brown, lower pale greyish-brown, white behind.
Fig. 3.
In its general appearance, including proportions as well as colour, the Rough-winged Swallow is extremely similar to the Bank Swallow. It differs however in having the bill considerably longer, more attenuated toward the end, with the point of the upper mandible more decurved. The tail, Fig. 2, is shorter and but slightly emarginate, the lateral exceeding the middle feathers by only two-twelfths of an inch, whereas in the other species they exceed them by five-twelfths or even six; feathers are also broader and more rounded at the end. The wings are longer, and extend half an inch beyond the tail. The tarsi and toes are somewhat longer and more slender, and there are no feathers on the hind part of the tarsus as in the common species; the claws are much more slender.
The bill is black, the tarsi, toes, and claws dusky. The upper parts are of the same greyish-brown, or mouse-colour, as those of the Bank Swallow. The lower are of a very light greyish-brown, gradually paler on the hind parts, the abdomen and lower tail-coverts being white.
Length to end of tail 5 3/4 inches, to end of wings 6 1/4; extent of wings 12 1/2; bill along the ridge 3 1/2/12, along the edge of lower mandible 6 1/2/12; wing from flexure 4 4/12; tail to end of middle feather 1 10/12; to end of longest feather 2; tarsus 5/12; hind toe 2 1/4/12, its claw 2 1/4/12; middle toe 5/12, its claw 3 1/4/12.
In a specimen, from Charleston, South Carolina, preserved in spirits, the roof of the mouth is flat, the width of the gape 5 1/2 twelfths; the tongue triangular, 3 1/2 twelfths long, emarginate and papillate at the base, with two of the papillæ much larger, flat above, tapering to a slit point, more narrow and elongated than that of the Sand Swallow. The œsophagus is 1 inch 11 twelfths long, without dilatation, its breadth 1 1/2 twelfth. The stomach is elliptical, muscular, 5 twelfths long, being 4 1/2 twelfths, and placed a little obliquely; the epithelium brownish-red, tough, longitudinally rugous, filled with remains of insects. The intestine is 4 1/2 inches long; the cœca 1 1/2 twelfth in length, and 8 twelfths distant from the anus.
The trachea is 1 inch 4 twelfths long, its diameter 1 twelfth; its rings about 50; the muscles as in the other species; the bronchi very slender, of about 12 half rings.