Part 138

319. COLLOCALIA ISONOTA (Oberholser).

OBERHOLSER'S SWIFTLET.

Collocalia linchi Sharpe, Hand-List (1900), 2, 90 (part); Oates and Reid, Cat. Birds' Eggs (1903), 3, 77 (part). Salangana linchi McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 59. Collocalia linchi isonota Oberholser, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philad. (1906), 58, 208.

Pi-ping-aú, Benguet.

Bongao (Everett); Luzon (Whitehead, McGregor); Mindanao (Koch & Schadenberg); Mindoro (McGregor, Porter).

Adult.--About the size of and very much like Collocalia marginata but without white margins to tail-coverts, and with more white on the abdomen.

Young.--The young bird resembles the adult in plumage but the tarsi are flesh-color.

Nest.--Composed of moss or lichens and placed on the ground in the protection of grass or ferns. Two eggs measure 22.3 by 13.9 and 21.5 by 13.9.

Genus CHÆTURA Stephens, 1826.

Size large, length 100 to 200 mm. or even more; shafts of tail-feathers very stiff and extending a short distance beyond the webs; claws strong and curved. Birds of this genus are very strong and steady in flight and usually feed high in the air.

Species.

a1. Much larger; length, over 200 mm.; chin and throat black.

b1. No white spot on side of forehead. ... gigantea (p. 357) b2. A large white spot on each side of forehead.

c1. Under wing-coverts uniform dark brown. ... celebensis (p. 358) c2. Under wing-coverts edged with white. ... dubia (p. 359)

a2. Much smaller; length, less than 120 mm.; chin and throat white. ... picina (p. 359)

320. CHÆTURA GIGANTEA (Temminck).

GIANT SPINE-TAILED SWIFT.

Cypselus giganteus Temminck, Pl. Col. (1825), 364. Chætura gigantea Hartert, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1892), 16, 475; Sharpe, Hand-List (1900), 2, 91; McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 59.

Calamianes (Worcester, Celestino); Palawan (Whitehead, Platen, Steere Exp., Bourns & Worcester, Celestino, White). Sumatra, Malay Peninsula, Java, Borneo.

Adult.--Forehead, crown, nape, sides of head and neck, wings and tail black with very dark steel-blue gloss; lores deep black; remainder of plumage deep smoky brown, except under tail-coverts and a patch on lower flank which are white; shafts of under tail-coverts dark brown. A male from Palawan measures: Length, 239; wing, 203; tail, 67; exposed culmen, 10; tarsus, 17. A female from Culion measures: Length, 229; wing, 200; tail, 68; exposed culmen, 9; tarsus, 16.

Worcester and Celestino collected a large series of giant swifts in Culion and Palawan. I have seen large swifts in Benguet Province and in Calayan, and Worcester observed a large flock in northern Luzon which may have been either C. gigantea or C. dubia.

321. CHÆTURA CELEBENSIS (Sclater).

CELEBES SPINE-TAILED SWIFT.

Chætura gigantea var. celebensis Sclater, Proc. Zool. Soc. (1865), 608. Chætura celebensis Hartert, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1892), 16, 467; Meyer and Wiglesworth, Bds. Celebes (1898), 1, 329, pl. 12; Sharpe, Hand-List (1900), 2, 91; Clarke, Ibis (1894), 533; Mearns, Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash. (1905), 18, 185; McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 59.

Basilan (Mearns); Negros (Keay). Celebes.

Adult.--"Deep steel-blue, back and rump with purple gloss; two white spots on the sides of the forehead; sides of the abdomen and under tail-coverts white. In size similar to C. gigantea." (Hartert.)

Clarke gives the following notes on a specimen obtained in Negros: "The back is an admixture of dark brown, or brownish black, and deep steel-blue, each feather having a broad subterminal band of blue with an edging of dark brown, which conceals the blue to a considerable extent, so that the brown predominates. The tail and secondaries are glossed with green and blue in about equal proportions. Length, 241; wing, 216; tail, 73; tarsus, 18."

"Female.--A specimen in the Sarasin Collection marked '[female] juv.' (but we can not see any signs of immaturity) answers to Mr. Hartert's description of the species, except that the lores are reddish brown not white. Wing, 208; tail, 63; tarsus, 16; bill from nostril, 6." (Meyer and Wiglesworth.)