Pi’ofessor Burmeister gives the following note :—
“ Of all the Swallows of Brazil this has been the commonest in the countries visited
hy me ; in each town, in each village, they exist in crowds. They nest under the caves,
where they repose on the cornices, like the Sparrows in Europe; it builds a simple nest
of dry grass and hair; it lays two white eggs. The species appears to ho especially
plentiful iu the inhabited districts; it is also present throughout the ivhole of South
America; Azara describes it from Paraguay; von Tschudi from Pcra; I myself found
it ill Colombia as well as in llio de Janeiro, Novo Pribourgo, Congonhas, and Lagoa
Santa.”
A young specimen obtained by Mr. Joyner at Pelotas In Rio Grande do Sul is in
the Salvin-Godman collection.
On the occurrence of the species near Buenos Ayres, excellent notes are given below
from the pen of Mr. W. II. Hudson. Mr. Durnford has also written on the subject; he
observes:—
“ Arrives at the end of September, and generally leaves in March ; hut this year I
observed two, a little north of Buenos Ayres, ou the 30th Ain-il. This, the smallest
species of Ilirundinidm, always reminds me of the Sand-Martin at home. In its habit
of Hying close to the ground and frequenting the neighhonrhood of pools and streams,
from which it never wanders far, it is essentially like that bird. It nests iu holes in the
hanks of streams, sandpits, and similar localities.
“ On October 3rd I saw two pairs frequenting some holes in a sand-pit near Plores ;
as they often returned to the pit, and clung to tlie face of its perpendicular sides, I think
they had nests near. I thrust the whole length of my walking-stick into two or three
of the holes, without touching the end of any of them, i am told that this Swallow
remains the whole year near Buenos Ayres; and a friend assures me that he once shot
one when Duck-shooting in the winter.” (See, however, Mr. Hudson’s notes given
below.)
Jlr. E. ^y. lYhite met with it at Catamarca in August. Professor Burmeister,
during his jouruey through the La Plata region, found this the commonest Swallow, but
in Mendoza he met with the white-vented race which he named Atticora hemipyga.
This is also the form from Chili, as is shown by the specimens in the British Museum,
which possesses nine examples from that country. Mr. White’s specimen from Cosquin
in the province of Cordova also belongs to the white-vented form.
Mr. Darwin fouud the species nesting along with the Purple Martin in holes in
hanks near Bahia Blanca in Northern Patagonia. His specimen iu the British Museum
agrees with the ChiUa]i specimens above recorded.
Mr. II. Durnford writes:—
“ Common throughout our journey in Central Patagonia about the rivers and lakes.
A few arc seen at Chupat on warm days iu the winter; but the great majority leave at
the apiiroaeh of cold wcatlicr.” It was pretty common in the Chupat valley, nesting in
the banks of some of the upper reaches of the river.
Like many other South-American Swallows the nesting-habits of the present species
vary with locality, and the observations recorded above should be compared with the
following interesting observations of Mr. W. II. Hudson:—
“ I have already spoken in former Communications of all h u t one of the species of Ili-
rundinid® that visit us in this region ; the bird 1 have yet to describe is X\\q Atticora cyanoleuca—
i\iQ Oolondrina de los timoneles negros of Azara, and th e smallest of our Swallows.
I cannot say what are the limits of its range, as my wanderings have not extended far m
any direction, and I have never yet been in any region wliere it is not well known. In
Buenos Ayres these Swallows appear early iu September, coming before the three species
of Progne that visit us, but preceded by the Jlirundo leucorrhoa. They are hank-hirds,
breeding in forsaken holes and burrows (for they never bore into the earth themselves),
and are consequently not much seen about the habitations of man. They sometimes
find their breeding-lioles in the banks of streams, or in peopled districts in the sides of
ditches, and down in wells. But if in such sites alone fit receptacles for their eggs were
found, the species, instead of one of the' commonest, would he rare indeed ; for ou the
level pampas most of the watercourses have marshy borders, or at the most but low and
gently sloping banks. But the burrowing habits of two other animals, tho Vizcacha
iLagostomus Irichodaotylus) and the Minera (Geositta cunicularia) have everywhere
afforded the Swallows abundance of breeding-places ou the plains, even where tliere are
no streams or any other irregularities iu the smooth surface of earth.
“ The Geositta bores its holes iu the sides of the Vizcachas burrows ; and in this
burrow within a burrow the Swallow lays its eggs and rears its young, and is tlie guest of
the Vizcacha and as much dependent ou him as tbe IVren or the Swallow we call
domestic is ou man; so that in spring when this species returns it is in the village of
the Vizcacha we see them. Tbere they live and spend the day, sporting about the
burrows, just as the domestic Swallow does about our houses. The nest, constructed
of dry grass lined with feathers, is placed at the extreme end of the burrow, and contains
five or S x white, pointed eggs. After tiie young have ilown, they sit close together on u
weed, thistle-top, or low tree; and the parents continue to feed them many days.
“ As iu size and brightness of plumage, so in language also is this Swallow interior to
his congeners, his only song consisting of a single weak, trilling note, mueh ¡irolonged,
which the bird repeats with great frequency when on the wing. But sometimes lie
utters two notes ; and then the second note, though much the same, is longer and more
inflected than the first; yet his voice has ever a niouruful monotonous sound. It a
rapacious bird or a Pox chances to intrude upon the burrows when they are hreediiig,
these Swallows summon each other with cries indicative of fear and anxiety ; hut even
then these cries are neither loud nor shrill. AVhcn flying, these Swallows glide along very
close to the earth, and when weary settle down (contrary to the custom of other Swallows)
and rest ou the level grassy plains. Like other hirds of this family they possess the
habit of gliding to and fro before a rider’s horse to snatch up the little twilight moths
startled ñ'om the grass. Seldom does a person ride on the pampas in summer without