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lieen considered by naturalists to be identical rvitb that species, but is decidedly u-orthy
of recognition as a race. It is the bird spoken of by Azara as the Golondrina domestica
of I araguay, and it is appareutly plentiful in tbe neigldiourllood of Buenos Ayres. Dr.
von Iheriug has procured it at Taquara, in tlic province of Bio Grande do Sul, and
specimens from Santa Catarina aro in the Salvin and Godman collection. The examples
olltaiiied by Natterer in the neighbourhood of Ypancma aud Bio de Janeiro may belong
m all probability to this largo race of P. cliahjlica.
^ Dr. Bumieistcr states that it is oommon throughout tlie ivliole of tho La Plata
region, and Mr. Hudson states that the extreme limit of its range is about 230 miles
south of the city of Buenos Ayres. He observes “ It was ivcll called ‘ Goloudriiia
domestica' by Azara, being pre-eminently a domestic bird iu its habits. It never breeds
in banks, as the Patagonian Purple Martin often does, or in the domed nests of other
hirds in trees, a situation ahvays resorted to by the Treo-Martiu, and occasionally by our
Common Swalloiv; but is so accustomed to the coiiipauionsliip of man, as to make its
home in populous towns as well as in country-houses. It arrives in Buenos Ayres
about the middle of September, and apparently resorts to the same brcodiiig-plaoe every
year. A hole under the eaves is usually selected, and tbe nest is roughly built of diy
grass, hair, feathers, and other materials. When the entrance to its brcediiig-Uolo is too
large, it closes it up with mud mixed with straw; if there be two entrances, it stops up
one altogetlicr. Tho bird does not often require to use mud in building ; it is the only
one of our Swallows that uses such a material at all, Tbe eggs aro white, long, pointed,
and five in number.
“ In the season of courtship tliis Martin is a noisy, pugnacious bird, and always,
when quitting its nest, utters au exceedingly loud startling cry, several times repeated.
It also lias a song, uttered botli when resting and wlion ou the wiug, composed of sovci'al
agrccallle modulated notes, and in a thick rolling intonation peculiar to our Swallows.
Tliis song docs not sound loud when near, yet it can be distinctly licard when the bird
appears Imt a speck in tho distance. I may Iiere remark tliat, with the exception of tho
Petrochclidon pyrrhonota, which possesses a sharp squeaky voice, like the Swallows of
Europe, all our Hiriiiidines have soft voices ; their usual twittering when they aro
circling about reseinbles somewhat the eliiiqjing of the English Ilouse-Sparrow in tone,
Imt besides these notes tlicy possess a song more pleasing to the ear. Before leavin«- in
Echi'uary, tliese birds congregate in parties of from twenty to four or five hundred,
usually on the broad leafy tup of an old ombii tree.”
Tills is doubtless the spoeies spoken of liy Mr. Dnrnford and Mr. Gilison under tho
name of P. purpurea, as nesting near Buenos Ayres. In tho ‘ Catalogue of Birds ’ we
referred their notices to Proyuc furcata, liiit Mr. Hudson e.xpressly states tliat this
species does not breed in the abovc-ineutioiied locality. Mr. Durnford says :—
“ The dates ot arrival and departure of this bird aro about the same as those ot
P. tapera. The young aro on tlio wing early in Eebruary. Common both in tho town
and country, breeding freely iu chinks in walls, under the eaves of houses, aud holes iu
S itrees.
Pre-eminently a homely bird. During tbe summer its loud harsh notes, uttered
whilst on tho wing, may be constantly heard, but when resting on a telegraph-wiro or
twig of a tree it has quite a pretty little song,”
Mr. Gibson’s note is as follows ;—
“Abundant near Buenos Ayres; coming in tbe first W'cek of September, and leaving
about the end of March. Immediately on tliolr arrival they begin to examine their old
nesting-sites; but tho eggs do not seem to be laid till much later, and I have taken fresh
ones towards the end of November. These sites are crannies in the eaves or gables of
any building, or various similar situations; but the nest is never so isolated from one
contiguous beam or wall as to neecssitato its being entirely built ot mud, that material
being only used to close up tlio open sides and leave but one eiitrance-liole. Tlio mud
is verv coarsely mixed, sometimes with a good deal of grass iu it, Tbe lining consists
merely of some dry grass. One of tlieir favourite localities is a beam underneath the
eaves ot our largo wool-storo, just at the doorway. It says much for their familiarity
that tbo constant traffic does not deter them from building there. Tho eggs arc of a
beautiful white, pear-shaped, and average f -J- x i} ; six is the largest clutcli I have taken.”
He likewise observes “ There were two entirely black spocimoiis wliioli used to
appear annually at the head station; but I have not seen them for the last year or two.”
These wero probably P. purpurea on a winter visit from North America, but tlicy may
well have been P. furcata. At any rate the more fact that such a careful observer as
Mr. Gibson thinks it worth while to allude to these wholly Black Martins as distinct
from tho ordinary species of Buenos Ayres seems to prove that one ot tbo above-named
species occasionally visits Buenos Ayres.
Mr. Barrows, in liis account of the Birds of Lower Uruguay, writes as follows :—
“ All the Swallows arc known as ‘ Gotondrinas.f and when it is desired to indicate a
particular species an appropriate adjective is used. The present species arrives at Concepcion
from tho north somewhat later than the smaller Swallows, and is not so abundant,
though its voice is usually heard at any hour of the day during the brecdiiig-season.
Duriii“- October and November the nests are built—usually in hollows—beneath the
eaves of bouses and sheds. On October 22nd, 1880, I spent nearly the whole afternoon
in watching several hundreds of this species and P. tapera, catching dragon-flies. A liigli,
cold, south wind (‘ pampero ’) was blowing, and tlie dragoii-fiies were massed by tliousands
on the leeward sides of the bushes near the top of a bluff. Benumbed with the cold
they only fiew when bard pressed, and were then almost inevitably swept by the wind
directlv into the waiting moiitlis of the hirds. Selecting a bush on which a peek or
two of the insects were clinging, I would dislodge them by a sudden shake, and in an
instant they became the centre of a flock of voracious birds, wTiicli seemed to have lost
all fear, and were intent only on the helpless insects, which were snapped up often
within a foot or two of my face.
“ The dragon-flies were of a medium size, having a spread of perhaps 2^ to 3
inches. They did not cling to each other like bees or locusts, hut simply crowded as
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