174 birds of india. 



The White-necked Spine-tail. 



Descr. — Head, including the upper ear-coverts and lores, back 

 of neck, upper tail coverts, and sides of the rump, wings, and tail, 

 dusky black, with a changeable blue-green gloss ; back and 

 scapulars whity-brown, palest in the middle ; chin, throat, and neck 

 in front and on the sides, white ; lower neck, breast, and belly, sooty 

 brown ; vent, lower tail coverts, and a lateral stripe from the thighs 

 backwards, white, more or less mixed with glossy blue-black: inner 

 webs of the last tertiaries white. 



Bill black ; irides deep brown ; legs and feet purplish livid. 



Length 8^ inches, ext. 20; wing, 8; tail, 2, nearly square. 



This splendid and powerful Swift has only in our province been 

 found in the South-east portion of the Himalayas, in Nepal, Sikim, 

 and Bootan. I frequently saw them near Darjeeling, often in the 

 station itself, at Kursion, and other places in Sikim, scattered in 

 vast numbers over a considerable tract of country, and flying with 

 amazing velocity. Tickell, who observed the species also at Dar- 

 jeeling, says that " it is at once recognised by his great size, and the 

 prodigious swiftness of his movements. There is nothing I have 

 ever witnessed equal to the flight of this bird. It breeds among the 

 huge wall- like crags of the Himalayas and under the snow level." 

 These Swifts appear to change their ground frequently, for you 

 seldom see them for two days together in the same spot. Hodgson 

 states that " it inhabits the northern regions of Nepal, whence it 

 wanders into the mountains of the central, avoiding however the 

 open and level country. It climbs with great power, aided by its 

 talons and its tail. It probably breeds in some of the precipices of 

 the inner range of hills." 



It appears probable that the Australian bird figured by Gould is 

 the same as this one, although it is put as a distinct species by 

 Gray and Bonaparte. In Gould's figure the forehead is pure white, 

 and the chin whiter than in Himalayan specimens, but Mr. Blyth 

 informs me that he has seen the Australian coloration in a specimen 

 from China. Gould's figure, however, is inaccurate, inasmuch as he 

 represents the lateral toes far too short, for they are nearly as long as 

 the mid-toe. He says that this Swift retires to roost (it is said in 



