22 CYPSELID^ CYPSELUS 



Ihis, 1869, p. 72 ; Gurneij in Anclersson's B. Damaraland, p. 46 



(1872). 

 Cypselus melba {nee Linn.), Grill, K. Vet. Ahad. Handl. ii, no. 10. p. 



41 (1858) [Knysna and Oudtshoorn] ; Laijard, B. S. Afr. p. 50 



(1867) ; Sharpe, ed. Layard's B. S. Afr. p. 95 (1875) ; Butler, Feilden, 



and Reld, Zoologist, 1882, p. 206. 

 Micropus africauus, Hartert, Cat. B. M. xvi, p. 410 (1892). 

 Cypselus africanus, Shelley, B. Afr. i, p. 105 (1896). 

 Apus africanus, Hartert, Tierreich Podarc/. p. 84 (1896). 



Description. — General colour above, mouse-brown, a little darker 

 on the wings and tail, lores nearly black ; below, a white patch on 

 the throat and abdomen separated by a brown pectoral band ; sides 

 of the body, under tail- and wing-coverts brown like the back. In 

 some specimens the white feathers of the throat and abdomen have 

 dark shaft lines. 



Iris dark brown ; bill black ; legs and feet brown. 



Fig. li.—Cyiischts africanus. x \. 



Length (in flesh) 8-0; wing 8-10; tail 3-40; culmen 0-40; 

 tarsus 0'50. 



The sexes are alike ; the young birds have white edges to most 

 of the brown feathers which gradually disappear. 



This bird is very closely allied to the Alpine Swift, from 

 which it is stated to differ in its slightly smaller size (wing 8"1 

 against 8-45), its broader brown collar and its browner flanks. 



It will perhaps be best considered as a sub-species of the 

 European bird. 



Distribution. — The White-bellied Swift is found all over south 

 and east Africa in mountainous districts, extending as far north 

 as Kilimanjaro, and perhaps into Shoa. 



In the Colony it is abundant, especially in Cape Town and on 

 Table Mountain, where it arrives about August and stays till after 

 Christmas ; it is also recorded from the Paarl in January, from 

 Swellendam, Knysna in May (Victorin), Port Elizabeth and East 



