The white-rumped swallow (Tachycineta leucorrhoa) is a species of bird,
the only one in its genus, in the family Hirundinidae. First described
and given its scientific name by French ornithologist Louis Vieillot in
1817, it has no known population variations. It is black from the eyes
to the nostrils, with a white streak just above. The ear coverts, tail,
and wings are black, with white tips on the wings. The rest of the
upperparts are a glossy blue. Its underparts and underwing-coverts are
white, in addition to the rump, as the name suggests. It usually builds
its nest in holes in trees or dead snags, and sometimes under eaves or
in holes in fence posts. This swallow is found in Argentina, Bolivia,
Brazil, Paraguay, Peru, and Uruguay. Its natural habitats are dry
savanna, pastureland, the edge of forests, and subtropical or tropical
seasonally wet or flooded lowland grassland. It is classified as a
species of least concern by the International Union for Conservation of
Nature. Its population is increasing, partly because of the increase in
availability of man-made structures suitable for nest sites.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White-rumped_swallow>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1794:
The Reign of Terror: Branded a traitor, French chemist Antoine
Lavoisier, a former royal tax collector with the Ferme générale, was
tried, convicted, and guillotined on the same day.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antoine_Lavoisier>
1927:
French aviators Charles Nungesser and François Coli aboard the
biplane L'Oiseau Blanc, attempting to make the first non-stop
transatlantic flight from Paris to New York, disappeared after takeoff.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%27Oiseau_Blanc>
1945:
A parade to celebrate the end of World War II turned into a
riot, followed by widespread disturbances and killings in and around
Sétif, French Algeria.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S%C3%A9tif_and_Guelma_massacre>
1970:
Construction workers in New York City attacked students and
others protesting the Kent State shootings.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hard_Hat_Riot>
1987:
A British Army Special Air Service unit ambushed a Provisional
Irish Republican Army unit in Loughgall, Northern Ireland, killing eight
IRA members and a civilian.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loughgall_ambush>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
macron:
(orthography) A short, straight, horizontal diacritical mark (¯) placed
over any of various letters. It usually is used to indicate that the
pronunciation of a vowel is long; in Mandarin Pinyin (Chinese), it
indicates the first tone, e.g., chūzūchē.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/macron>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
The recognition of the insuperable limits to his knowledge ought
indeed to teach the student of society a lesson of humility which should
guard him against becoming an accomplice in men's fatal striving to
control society — a striving which makes him not only a tyrant over
his fellows, but which may well make him the destroyer of a civilization
which no brain has designed but which has grown from the free efforts of
millions of individuals.
--Friedrich Hayek
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Friedrich_Hayek>