ALPINE SWIFT. 347 



size, and sent it witli a full description to Professor 

 James Eennie, who inserted a reduced copy of the 

 figure with my description in the *^ Field Naturalist" 

 (vol. i., No. iv., p. 172). The following are the dimen- 

 sions of this specimen as given in the above journal, 

 although, as Mr. Fulcher remarks, "in measuring it 

 some allowance must be made for the shrivelled state 

 of the skin:" — "The length, from the tip of the bill 

 to the end of the tail, is rather more than eight inches ; 

 breadth across the wings twenty inches ; it is much more 

 bulky than the common swift (Cypselus murarius Tem- 

 minck), and must have weighed, at least, as much again. 

 Bill nearly two-fifths of an inch long, measured from the 

 base of the upper mandible, curved and black ; the colour 

 of the irides unknown, but I believe it was dusky. The 

 head, back of the neck, back, wings, and tail grey brown, 

 and the edges of the feathers of a paler colour. Round 

 the breast is a collar of grey brown. The throat, lower 

 part of the breast, and the body to the commencement 

 of the under tail- coverts white ; the sides dusky, with a 

 mixture of dull white ; under surface of the wings and 

 tail, and the under tail-coverts dusky. The quill-feathers 

 are darker than the back, and remarkably strong and 

 pointed ; the quills dusky white. The back, wings, and 

 tail have copper- coloured and green reflections Avhen 

 viewed in particular lights. The tail is more than three 

 inches long, forked, and consists of exactly ten feathers. 

 Legs short and strong, flesh coloured, and feathered 

 to the toes, which are all placed forward, as in the 

 common swift; the claws strong and brownish black." 

 Yarrell has recorded four or five specimens of this 

 swift as procured in the British Islands, including the 

 above, and a notice of a recent example taken in St. 

 Mary's Church, Hulme, Manchester, on the 18th of 

 October, 1863, will be found in the "Zoologist" for 

 1864, p. 8955. 

 2 y 2 



