Tail slightly forked or emarginate … Tachycineta.
Tarsi entirely naked; lengthened equal to middle toe and half its claw.
Tail considerably forked … Callichelidon.[69]
Subgenus HIRUNDO, Linn.
Gen. Char. Nostrils lateral. Tarsi short, not exceeding middle toe without its claw; the upper joint covered with feathers, which extend a short distance along the inner face of tarsus. Tail very deeply forked; the lateral feather much attenuated, twice as long as the middle. Basal joint of middle toe free for terminal fourth on outside, for half on inside. Nest partly of mud, and lined with feathers; eggs spotted.
In type, and in American species, the forehead and throat rufous; a black pectoral collar; tail-feathers with large light spots on inner webs.
But one species, so far as known, of this subgenus as restricted, belongs to America. There are, however, quite a number known in the Old World.
Hirundo horreorum, Barton.
BARN SWALLOW.
Hirundo horreorum, Barton, Fragments N. H. Penna. 1799, 17.—Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 308; Rev. 294.—A. & E. Newton, Ibis, 1859, 66 (Sta. Cruz; transient).—Sclater & Salvin, Ibis, 1859, 13 (Guatemala).—Sclater, P. Z. S. 1864, 173 (City of Mex.)—Lawrence, Ann. N. Y. Lyc. 1861, 316 (Panama).—Cooper & Suckley, P. R. R. Rep. XII, II, 184 (south of Columbia River).—Dall & Bannister, 279 (Alaska).—Cooper, Orn. Cal. 1, 1870, 103.—Samuels, 254. Hirundo rufa, Vieill.—Cassin, Ill.—Brewer, N. Am. Ool. I, 1857, 91, pl. v, fig. 63-67 (eggs).—Cab. Jour. IV, 1856, 3 (Cuba; spring and autumn).—Reinhardt, Ibis, 1861, 5 (Greenland; two specimens).—Gundlach, Cab. Jour. 1861, 328 (Cuba; common). Hirundo americana, Wilson; Rich.; Lembeye, Aves de Cuba, 1850, 44, lam. vii, fig. 2. Hirundo rustica, Aud. Orn. Biog. II, pl. clxxiii.—Ib. Birds Am. I, pl. xlviii.—Jones, Nat. Hist. Bermuda, 34 (Bermudas; Aug. and Sept.).