G e n u s I . C I I E L I D O X
JU ru n d o , p t., L in n . S y st. X a t. i. p. 3 13 (176G).
J iir n u d o , F ö r s te r , S yn. C at. B rit. B . p . 55 (1817) . • •
Chelidoii, B o ie , Is is , 1 8 2 2 , p. 5 5 0 .............................................
Delic/ion, M o o re , P. Z, S. 185-4, p . 1 0 4 ................................
CheUdonaria, R e ic h e n ow , J . f. 0 . 1 8 8 9 , p. 187 . . . .
Type.
C. nrhiea.
C. urbica.
C. nipalousit'.
C. urbica.
D istinguished from all th e o th e r H irundinidæ b y tb e fe a the red toes.
Range. Over th e g re a te r p a rt o f th e n o rtb e ru Old W orld. Tliro u g b o u t th e P a lie a rc tic K cgioii, iviutcriiig
in th e In d ia ti an d E th io p ian llegions.
Claris specierinn.
a. Subcatidales a lb a .
a', lle c trix ex tim a minimè albo nota ta .
a". Supra c auda le s longiorcs iiig r a , r c liq u a a lb a , uropygio coii-
coiores.
a'". M cn tn iu album, g a s tr a o re liq u o concolor.
a'. M a jo r : a là 4 '2 5—l-'3 p o ll.: subtfis pu rè a lba (ad.),
g n ttu r e fumoso vel isabelliiio (juv.) ; cauda valdè
f u r c a t a ....................................................................................... 1 . HrA/ca, p. i
» Dr. Leonard Stejneger, in tho ‘ Proceedings of the U.S. National Musoiiin ’ (vol. v. p. 31), has drawn attention
to the fact th a t previously to Boio having selected tho Hirundo \irhka of Linnæus as the type of his genus Chtlklon.
Thomas Forster had already restricted the same spocies to lliTundo, and had proposed tho name Chelidon for tlio
Common Swallow and its allies. Thus Hirundo ought to bo kept for tho M artins, and Chelidon used for the SwaUows,
reversing tho established custom of ornithologists for three (luartcrs of a century. This conclusion of Dr. Stejneger
has boon adopted by the Committee of the American Ornithologists’ Union, and Chelidon is now in general use for
the Baru-Swallows of tho New World. Iu tho ‘ Catalogue of Birds ’ (vol. x. p. 85) wo did not follow Dr. Stejueger’s
conclusions, as wo did not agree tha t Forster’s nominal list of British birds, wliicli gave not a single character or
description, ought to supersede the more useful and intelligible work of Boie. A still more potent reason for not
adopting such a wholesale change in nomcnclaturo seemed to be th a t ornithologists in every country had become
accustomed to tho names of Hirundo for the Swallows, and Chelidon for tho Martins, and it was a pity te reverse
them. The same reasoning has induced us to observe tho old-fashioned nomenclature in tho present ‘ Monograph.’
Moreover in 1889 Dr. lleichcnow pointed out th a t Hirundo ruHica had already been fixed as tho type of Hirundo
by Schaeffer in his ‘ Elcmenta Ornithologica, Genus 100,’ and that, in any case, Forster's genus Chelidon must bo n
synonym of Hirundo, Schaeffer. Dr. Reichenow therefore proposed tho name Chelidonaria for the IIouse-Martins.
and by those who make up their mind to depart from the old-fashioned nomenclature the name Chelidonariu uiayb)-
employed for the following species:—1. CMidonaria urhica ; 2. C. cushmirieneis ; 3. C.dasi/2'^s-, 4. C.layojitts ■.
5. C. alligemi ; tJ. C. nipalensis.