Adult male. General colour above glossy dark purple, with a concealed spot of white on the sides of the
lower back, tbe feathers composing this spot being wliite, with more or less purple towards the
tip of the inner web; lesser and median wing-coverts like the back j greater coverts, bastard-
wing, primarj-'coverts, and quills black, externally dull blue; upper tail-covcrts like the back ;
tail-feathers blackisli glossed with blue ; lores velvety black ; cheeks and ear-coverts black washed
with purplish blue ; throat and chest dark smoky brown, the fore neck and chest with hoary grey
margins to the feathers, the throat rather darker and having dusky blackish shaft-stnpcs ; sides
of the upper breast more or less purplish blue, the feathers tipped with the latter colour, which
extends some way down the sides of the body; entire abdomen, flanks, and under tail-coverts
white; the white feathers of the lower breast wiicre they adjoin tbe brown throat washed with
smoky brown and having blackish shaft-streaks; axillaries dark purplish blue with brown bases ;
under wing-coverts dark sooty brown washed with blue; quills dusky below, lighter hrown along
their inner face : “ bill brownish horn-black ; legs dark fleshy brown ; iris dark greyish brown ”
[Neuwied). Total length 6'G inches, culmcn 0-55, wing 5, tail 2-75, tarsus 0'5.
The female differs from the male in being duller blue and not so purple, but is otherwise similarly
coloured. On the sides of tbe upper breast tbe blue ends to the feathers are less conspicuous
and duller blue.
Young. Much more dingily coloured than the adults. Above sooty-brown slightly glossed with blue,
the feathers having more or less obsolete pale margins; wing-coverts also dull blue with pale
brown edges; quills and tail-feathers blackisli glossed with steel-blue or greenish; lores dusky;
cheeks, ear-coverts, and sides of neck brown, as well as the sides of the breast and flanks; throat
and chest pale brown, the feathers of the latter edged with white ; breast, abdomen, and under
tail-coverts pure white; axillaries smoky brown; under wing-coverts brown edged with white.
Tail less forked than in the adult.
Sometimes the uuder tail-coverts exhibit a brown shaft-streak, and still more rarely a pale
sliade of browu in the centre, but never to the extent of P. purpurea or P. furcata. The white
belly and under tail-coverts in both the old and young birds are generally sufficient to distinguish
tbe species.
Tbe wing varies somewhat in specimens from different localities, as will be seen from the
Those from Mexico have the Tving 5 ’45 inches.
„ „ Yucatan „ 5-15 „
„ „ Guatemala „ „ 5 1 - 5 G 5 „
„ „ Honduras „ „ „ 5-3
„ „ Costa Eica „ „ „ 5 -0-5-3
„ „ Panama „ » » 5-05-3-45 „
„ „ Colombia „ » » 5-0
„ „ Ecuador , „ „ » 5-3
„ „ Trinidad „ „ „ 5 0
„ „ Guiana „ 4 - 9 - 5 1 5 „
„ „ Upper Amazons „ „ „ 4 -7 -5 -0 „
„ „ Para „ „ „ 5-0 -5 -3 „
„ Bolivia „ „ 5-4 „
, appears that the Ceutral-American specimens are, on the whole.
those from South America.
The changes of plumage in this species arc not properly understood, and whether seasonal
differences exist ivc have not hcen able to make out. Tlie young birds are brown with scarcely
any gloss, and whatever lustre there be is of a greenish tint. There seems to be nothing of tlie
palc-edgcd feathers which are found in the young of P. purpurea, and in most specimens of the
latter there are distinct purple spots on the upper throat.
In the brceding-season the throat becomes extremely dark, and there arc distinct blue-lipped
feathers on tho sides of tlie fore neck and chest. In the winter plumage adults appareutly have
ashy margins to the feathers ot tliese parts, but wc have not been able to trace the changes at
different seasons with any degree of certainty. At one period of its life P. purpurea has a wliite
breast, and is very similar to P. dmlgbea. It has, however, always a longer wing (5-d5-5'9),
and has the breast more coarsely streaked with blackish shaft-lines. There are generaUy also
some blue feathers on the chin or throat, which proclaim the species.
Hat. Throughout Central America and the greater part of South America, as far as Southern Brasil
and Bolivia.
B m s so n appears to have been the first naturalist to describe this Purple Martin, calling
it ‘ L’llirondolle de Cayenne.’ Neither his description nor his figure arc sufiioiontly
accurate to determine for a certainty that they were intended for P . chalybea, and not
for a young individual of P . purpurea, a species which also visits Cayenne in its
migrations.
Tho references to Montheillard (Hist. Nat. Ois. vi. p. 075) and to Dauhenton (PL
Enl. vii. pi. D-15. flg. 2), made by us in tlio ‘ Catalogue of Birds,’ do not seem really to
refer to the present species, though they are considered hy both Latham and Ginelin so
to do. Latham’s description, however, of the ‘ Chalybeate Swallow ’ answers toloraWy
to our bird, and this name Gmelin latinized into Ilirundo chalybea, hy which title the
species is now' widely known and recognized hy the best authorities.
Mr. Cassin included this species in his ‘ Birds of California,’ where, he says, it was
first met with hy Mr. John Bell of Now York, but he himself subsequently saw several
examples from that country. Mr. llidgway (Proc. TJ. S. Nat. Mus. iii. p. 230) has
very properly placed the species amongst those whose claim to he considered North-
American is doubtful, and there can bo no question that Cassin mistook a stage ot
P . purpurea for P . chalybea.
The records of most observers in the field are very similar with regard to the habits
of this species, and it appears to breed throughout the wide exieut of country recorded
below. In Mexico it has been met with hy Salic at S. Andres Tuxtla, at Jalapa hy Do
Oca, and in tho Isthmus of Tolmantepec hy tho late Colonel Grayson. Professor
Sumichrast states that it inhabits tlie hot and temperate region, and is found on the
shores of both oceans, but does not extend into the department of Vera Cruz, further
than to tho height of 1200 metres. It nests at Orizaba in the steeples of cliurehes and
old buildings.
In Guatemala it was noticed in many places by Messrs. Salvin and Godman, hut
principally in the low'-lying districts, the greatest height at which the travellers observed
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