358 MANUAL OF PHILIPPINE BIRDS. 



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, 803; tail, 67; ex- 

 posed culm en, 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 whicli 

 may have been either C. gigantea or C. duhia. 



.321. CH/ETURA CELEBENSIS (Sclater). 

 CELEBES SPINE-TAILED SWIFT. 



ChcEtura gigantea var. celehensis Sclater, Proc. ZooL Soc. (1865), 608. 



Chwtura celehensis Hartert, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1892), 16, 467; Meyer 

 and WiGLESWORTH, Bds. Celebes (1898). 1, 329, pi. 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 (.l/ea//is) ; Negros (Kcay). Celebe.s. 



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.'" (Ilartert.) 



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 ' 9 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 Wigles worth.) 



Meams gives the following measurements of two males from Basilan : 

 "Length, 2-40, 255; wing, 215; tail, 75; bill from frontal feathers (chord), 

 8.5, 9.6; bill from anterior margin of nostril, 6.1, 7.1; tarsus, 19, 20; 

 middle toe with claw, 22.5." 



But six specimens of this large swift are known, three from Celebes, 

 one from Negros, and two from Basilan. 



