Nephœcetes niger.
11871 ♀
Gen. Char. Tail rather less than half the wings; quite deeply forked (less so in the female); the feathers obtusely acuminate; the shafts scarcely stiffened. First quill longest. Tarsi and toes completely bare, and covered with naked skin, without distinct indications of scutellæ. Tarsus rather longer than middle toe; the three anterior toes about equal, with moderately stout claws. Claw of middle toe much shorter than its digit. Hind toe not versatile, but truly posterior and opposite, with its claw rather longer than the middle toe without it. Toes all slender; claws moderate. Nostrils widely ovate, the feathers margining its entire lower edge.
Nephœcetes niger.
The comparative characters of this genus will be found in the diagnostic tables at the head of the family. According to Sclater, Cypseloides of Streubel (Isis, 1848, 366) with C. fumigatus as type, may have to be taken for this genus, as it was named by Streubel as an alternative to Hemiprocne, which belongs to Chætura. Until this question of synonymy can be decided positively, we retain Nephœcetes.
The single North American species, N. niger, has a singular distribution, being abundant near Puget Sound in summer, and again found in Jamaica and Cuba, without having been met with in any intermediate locality, except in the Province of Huatasco, Mex. The West India specimens are rather smaller, but otherwise not distinguishable.
BLACK SWIFT.
? Hirundo niger, Gmel. S. N. I, 1788, 1025. Cypselus niger, Gosse, B. Jam. 1847, 63.—Ib. Illust. B. Jam pl. x.—Gundl. & Lawr. Ann. N. Y. Lyc. VI, 1858, 268.—Scl. P. Z. S. 1865, 615. Nephœcetes niger, Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 142.—Elliot, Illust. Birds N. Am. I, xx.—Cooper, Orn. Cal. 1, 1870, 349. Cypselus borealis, Kennerly, P. A. N. S. Philad. IX, Nov. 1857, 202.—Scl. P. Z. S. 1865, 615. Hirundo apus dominicensis, Brisson, II, 1760, 514, pl. xlvi, f. 3.
Sp. Char. Wing the length of the body. General color rather lustrous dark sooty-brown, with a greenish gloss, becoming a very little lighter on the breast anteriorly below, but rather more so on the neck and head above. The feathers on top of the head edged with light gray, which forms a continuous wash on each side of the forehead above, and anterior to the usual black crescent in front of the eye. Occasionally some feathers of the under parts behind are narrowly edged with gray. Bill and feet black. Length, 6.75; wing, 6.75; tail, 3.00, the depth of its fork about .45 in the male, and scarcely .15 in the female.