9. PETEOCnELIDON. 191 



Herse pyrrhonota, Less. Compl. Buff. Ois. viii. p. 497 (1837). 



Cecropis nigricans, Boie, Isis, 1S44, p. 175. 



Cocropis pyrrhonota, Boiv, t. c. 



Collocalia arburea, Gould, B. Austr. ii. pi. 14 (c. 1848). 



Clit'lidon arborea, Gould, t. c, Intr. p. xxix (1848). 



Hirundo pyrrhonota australis, Temm. 8f Schl. Fattn. Jap., Aves, p. 35 



(1850). 

 Petrochelidon nigricans, Cab. Mm. Hein. Th. i. p. 47 (1850) ; Cass. 



Cat. llirund. Mus. I'hilad. Acad. p. 7 ( 1853) ; Sharpe, Rep. Zuol. 



Coll. II.M.8. 'Alert; Birds, ^. 21 (1884). 

 Chelidon nigricans, Licht. Nomencl. Av. p. 61 (1854). 

 Hylochelidon nigricans, Gould. Handb. B. Austr. i. p. Ill (18G5) ; 



Masters, Free. Linn. Soc. N. )S. W. i. p. 47 (1875) ; Ramsay, t. c. 



p. 389 (1876), ii. p. 389 (1876), iv. p. 98 (1879); Salvad. Ann. 



Mus. Civic. Genov. x. p. 131 (1877) ; id. P. Z. S. 1878, p. 95 ; id. 



Ami. Mus. Civic. Genov. x\\. pp. 491, 648 (1879); Buller, Trans. 



N. Zeal. List. xi. p. 360 (1878) ; Sulvad. Orn. Papuasia etc. ii. p. 6 



(1881) ; id. Report Toy. ' Challenger; ii. Birds, p. 78 (1884). 

 Hirundo (Herse) arborea, Pelz. Reis. 'Novara; Vof/. p. 41 (1875). 

 Hj-drochelidon (lapsu) nigricans, Ramsay, Proc. Linn. Soc. iV. S.W. 



iii. p. 275 (1879). 



Adult male. General colour above deep steel-blue, slightly streaked 

 ■with dusky ■white ■«'here the light bases of the feathers sho-w 

 through ; lesser wing-coverts like the back, the remainder dusky 

 bro^wn as ■well as the quills, the innermost secondaries ■with narrow 

 edgings of duU ■white at the tip ; lo^wer back and rump whity bro^wn, 

 slightly washed ■with sandy rufous, the feathers edged with creamy 

 ■white and ha^-ing blackish shafts ; upper tail-coverts dusky bro^wn, 

 rather broadly edged with creamy white ; tail-feathers dusky brown; 

 a frontal band of pale brick-red extending backwards to the corner 

 of the eye ; the base of the forehead near the culmen minutely spotted 

 with dull steel-blue ; lores, feathers round the eye, and ear-coverts 

 sooty blackish ; sides of the neck sandy buff, streaked with duU 

 black ; cheeks and throat dull whitish, with a tinge of buff, the 

 feathers minutely streaked with dusky blackish shaft-lines ; fore 

 neck, chest, and sides of body pale sandy rufous, with narrow shaft- 

 lines of dusky, less distinct on the flanks ; breast and abdomen 

 paler, being whitish with a sandy-rufous tinge ; the under tail- 

 coverts similarly coloured, and having dusky shaft-lines ; sides of 

 upper breast with a patch of blackish or dull blue ; under wing- 

 coverts and axillaries deeper sandy rufous, with dusky shaft-lines ; 

 quills dusky below, rather paler along the inner web : " bill, tarsi, 

 and toes light brown ; iris black" {Bulkr). Total length 5-2 inches, 

 culmen 0'3, wing 4-2, tail 2-1, tarsus 0-5. 



Youruj. Distinguished from the adult by the absence of the rufous 

 band on the forehead, which is replaced by a few saudy-buif feathers. 

 The whole tone of coloration is duller in the young than in the old 

 birds, the upper surface being dusky brown with more or less of a 

 blue gloss, the inner secondaries edged with pale rufous at the tips. 

 The under surface is paler than in the adult. 



Obs. Home specimens are remarkable for the rufous glow which 

 pervades their lower surface ; these arc probably old birds killed in 



