1. Hirundo unalaschkensis. Gm., Syst. Nat. I. p. 1025. (1788.) Hirundo aoonalaschkensis. Lath., Ind. Orn., II. p. 577. (1790.)
Originally described by Latham from a specimen in the Leverian Museum, as follows:—
“Length four inches and a half; bill very short, dusky; the plumage above dull black, without gloss; beneath and sides of the head dusky ash color, the last darkest; rump dirty white; tail forked, each feather round at the end; legs dusky. Inhabits Aoonalashka.” Gm., Syn. II. p. 571.
This species is unknown to ornithologists of the present day, and from the above description and the evident similarity of the bird to other small species of this family, would not be recognized without difficulty, unless obtained in the locality as given. It appears to belong to the genus Collocalia, Gray, a very remarkable group of small Swallows, that inhabit caves, and are found in several islands in the Pacific Ocean. A species of this genus is the Esculent Swallow of authors (Collocalia esculenta), the nests of which are so highly esteemed as an article of food by the Chinese, and are the principal constituent in the somewhat celebrated “Bird’s-nest soup,” a prominent feature in Chinese entertainments. It is probable, too, that the nests of other species of these birds are used for the same purpose.
No species of the genus alluded to has been discovered on the continent of America, nor in either of the American islands, except the above.
2. Hirundo phenicephala. Rafinesque, Annals of Nature, p. 4. (Lexington, Kentucky, 1820.)
“Head scarlet; back grey; belly white; bill and feet black. A fine and rare Swallow, seen only once by Mr. Audubon, near Hendersonville, in Kentucky; it must have been a wanderer, and is probably a native of Louisiana or Mexico.”
“Head scarlet”—enough said; Professor Rafinesque brings our ornithological ideas to a stand immediately. We never heard of a Swallow with the head of that color, exactly. But as Mr. Audubon’s name is brought in as authority, we think it possible that the bird alluded to in this description may have been a straggling specimen of a South American species, which has the head of a rufous color (Cortyle fucata, Temm., Pl. Col. 161, fig. 1). Rafinesque apparently gave his description and name without ever having seen the bird, or made further inquiry, and probably misunderstood or partly forgot the statement of Mr. Audubon respecting the color of the head.
Several instances of South American birds having been captured in the United States have come to our knowledge. We ought to have said, though, previously, that many more South American birds inhabit Mexico than are recorded in the books. Several specimens of Crotophaga sulcirostra have come under our notice, the last one of which was shot on an island in the Delaware, opposite to the northern portion of this city. Its plumage was perfectly mature and uninjured, showing evidently that it had never been caged.
3. Acanthylis saxatilis. Woodhouse, Sitgreave’s Report of an Expedition down the Zuni and Colorado Rivers, Zoology, p. 64 (Washington, 1853).