Part 167

COMMON SWALLOW.

Hirundo rustica Linnæus, Syst. Nat. ed. 10 (1758), 1, 191; Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1885), 10, 128; Hand-List (1901), 3, 192; Oates, Fauna Brit. Ind. Bds. (1890), 2, 277; Oates and Reid, Cat. Birds' Eggs (1903), 3, 237; McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 69.

Mindanao (Mearns); Palawan (Whitehead). Europe, northern Asia, Indian Peninsula, Manchuria, China, and Indo-Chinese provinces; in winter to Africa and Malay Peninsula.

"Coloration.--Forehead, chin, and throat chestnut; lores black; upper plumage and wing-coverts glossy purplish blue; quills and tail black, suffused with glossy green; all the tail-feathers, except the middle pair, with a white patch on the inner web; sides of head and neck and a very broad pectoral band glossy black, a few of the feathers of the latter part narrowly fringed with chestnut; lower plumage from the pectoral band downward pale rufous, becoming rather darker on the under tail-coverts. Length, up to 203; tail, up to 114; wing, 127; tarsus, 13; bill from gape, 15; bifurcation of tail, about 68.

"The young bird does not differ very much from the adult, but has the color of its plumage very dull." (Oates.)

391. HIRUNDO GUTTURALIS Scopoli.

EASTERN SWALLOW.

Hirundo gutturalis Scopoli, Del. Flor. et Faun. Insubr. (1786), 2, 96; Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1885), 10, 134; Hand-List (1901), 3, 193; Whitehead, Ibis (1899), 236; Oates and Reid, Cat. Birds' Eggs (1903), 3, 238; McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 70.

Basilan (Bourns & Worcester); Bohol (McGregor); Cagayan Sulu (McGregor); Calayan (McGregor); Cebu (McGregor); Cuyo (McGregor); Fuga (McGregor); Guimaras (Steere Exp., Bourns & Worcester); Luzon (Everett, Steere Exp., Bourns & Worcester, McGregor); Maestre de Campo (McGregor & Worcester); Mindanao (Steere Exp., Bourns & Worcester); Mindoro (Bourns & Worcester); Palawan (Bourns & Worcester); Panay (Steere Exp., Bourns & Worcester); Semirara (Worcester); Sibay (McGregor & Worcester); Siquijor (Bourns & Worcester); Sulu (Bourns & Worcester); Ticao (McGregor). Malay Peninsula and Archipelago, Indo-Chinese provinces; central and eastern Siberia, China, Japan, New Guinea, Australia.

Adult (sexes similar).--Forehead, chin, and throat dark chestnut, lores black; upper parts dark steel-blue; feathers of hind neck and upper back with much white basally; sides of head and neck, and a broad, more or less interrupted, band on breast steel-blue; rest of under parts white, sometimes tinged with pale salmon-pink; wings and tail black, glossed with green; each of the rectrices except middle pair with a large white spot on inner web. Length, about 175; wing, 118; tail, 90; depth of fork, 47; bill from nostril, 6; tarsus, 10.

Young birds have the forehead, chin, and throat brown or whitish, and the breast-band and sides of head earthy brown.

Typical specimens of the common and eastern swallows are no doubt very distinct, but the two forms appear to intergrade so that some authors have rejected the latter species, although it seems now to be generally recognized. Sharpe says in part: "If one accepts the broken pectoral collar as the best sign of distinction between H. gutturalis and H. rustica, it will be found to be so only in the majority of specimens, and by no means invariably; in fact there is as much variation with H. gutturalis in the direction of a complete collar on the fore neck as there is in H. rustica in that of a broken collar. Again, although the majority of H. gutturalis have a white under surface, still this is not an unfailing character of the eastern race; for many undoubted examples are rufescent below, although there is never such a decided tint of rufous as in full-plumaged H. rustica."

392. HIRUNDO JAVANICA Sparrman.

ASIATIC SWALLOW.

Hirundo javanica Sparrman, Mus. Carls. (1789), 2, pl. 100; Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1885), 10, 142; Hand-List (1901), 3, 194; Whitehead, Ibis (1899), 236 (nesting habits); Oates and Reid, Cat. Birds' Eggs (1903), 3, 239; McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 70.

Lai-ang' lai-ang', Manila.

Babuyan Claro (McGregor); Bantayan (McGregor); Basilan (Steere Exp., Bourns & Worcester, McGregor); Batan (McGregor); Bohol (Everett, McGregor); Cagayan Sulu (Guillemard, McGregor); Calamianes (Bourns & Worcester, McGregor); Camiguin N. (McGregor); Catanduanes (Whitehead); Cebu (Everett, McGregor); Cuyo (McGregor); Dinagat (Everett); Guimaras (Bourns & Worcester); Leyte (Everett); Lubang (McGregor); Luzon (Whitehead, Bourns & Worcester); Marinduque (Steere Exp.); Masbate (Bourns & Worcester); Mindanao (Platen, Bourns & Worcester); Mindoro (Steere Exp., Schmacker, McGregor); Negros (Steere Exp., Bourns & Worcester); Palawan (Lempriere, Platen, Whitehead, Steere Exp., Bourns & Worcester, White); Panay (Bourns & Worcester); Romblon (McGregor); Samar (Steere Exp.); Sibutu (Everett); Sibuyan (McGregor); Siquijor (Bourns & Worcester, Celestino); Sulu (Guillemard, Bourns & Worcester); Tawi Tawi (Bourns & Worcester); Ticao (McGregor). Southern India, Malay Peninsula, Molucca Islands, islands of Torres Straits, New Guinea, Java, Sumatra, Borneo, Ceylon.

Adult (sexes similar).--Lores black; entire forehead, chin, throat, and fore breast chestnut-rufous; upper parts including wings and tail glossy steel-blue, feathers of neck and back with white bases; breast, abdomen, under tail-coverts, sides, and axillars ashy brown, whitish on abdomen; longest tail-coverts with white tips and black subterminal bars; rectrices, except middle pair, with white spots on inner webs. Length, about 140. Male, wing, 109; tail, 53; depth of fork, 12; bill from nostril, 7; tarsus, 9. Female, wing, 107; tail, 51; depth of fork, 7; bill from nostril, 7.

Young birds have the chin, throat, and breast much lighter, upper parts with less gloss, and the forehead black like the crown with no green gloss.

The Asiatic swallow is abundant and widely distributed. It makes a crescent-shaped nest of mud which it fastens to a rock-cliff or to a beam under a building. Three heavily incubated eggs were collected in Bohol in July. They are white, dotted with reddish and blackish brown, and with a few under shell-markings of lavender; they measure 17.7 by 12.4

393. HIRUNDO STRIOLATA (Boie).

MOSQUE SWALLOW.

Cecropis striolata Boie, Isis (1844), 174. Hirundo striolata Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1885), 10, 161; Hand-List (1901), 3, 196; Whitehead, Ibis (1899), 236 (migration in northern Luzon); McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 70; McGregor, Phil. Journ. Sci. (1907), 2, sec. A, 326 (nesting habits).

Batan (McGregor); Bohol (McGregor); Calayan (McGregor); Camiguin N. (McGregor); Cebu (McGregor); Luzon (Whitehead); Masbate (Bourns & Worcester); Mindoro (Porter). Formosa, southern China, Burmese provinces, Java, Assam, Flores, Cachar.

Adult (sexes similar).--Above, except rump, dark steel-blue; loral feathers black with gray bases; a more or less triangular patch above and behind ear-coverts chestnut, streaked with black, continued forward over eye and slightly connected across occiput by fine lines of chestnut; feathers of neck and upper back largely white basally, this showing as white lines; under tail-coverts black; remainder of under parts including axillars and wing-lining white, or very pale fawn, with conspicuous blackish shaft-lines producing a very striking appearance; rump rusty chestnut with blackish shaft-lines; tail-coverts, secondaries, and secondary-coverts black, slightly glossed with blue; alula, primary-coverts, primaries, and rectrices black, slightly glossed with dark green. Bill black; legs and nails brown. Length, 190 to 195. A male from Cebu measures: Wing, 123; tail, 102; depth of fork, 55; bill from nostril, 6; tarsus, 14. A female from Cebu, wing, 120; tail, 93; depth of fork, 46; bill from nostril, 6; tarsus, 14.

Young.--General color pattern as in the adult, but head and back less strongly glossed with blue; chestnut on head and rump much lighter; wings and tail dark brown instead of black, and inner secondaries tipped with white; lower parts heavily washed with fawn, and shaft-stripes shorter, browner, and less sharply defined, very faint or altogether wanting on abdomen and under tail-coverts; axillars, wing-lining, and flanks strongly washed with fawn, shaft-lines faint or wanting.

If the Philippine representatives of the mosque swallow be included with H. striolata, as they must be at present, this species has a considerable range but it appears to be very local in occurrence. It may be found in numbers in one part of an island and be altogether absent a short distance away. It often appears in large flocks and may disappear within a few hours. I found it nesting in Bohol Island in May and in the Island of Batan during June. The nest is a bottle-shaped structure of mud, plastered to a wall in a cave or to a beam beneath a building. The eggs are pure white; three from Bohol measure: 22.6 by 14.7; 22.3 by 14.2; 22.8 by 14.7.

Family MUSCICAPIDÆ.