508 A PRACTICAL HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS. 



more glossed and three innermost tipped white or pale bufF ; 

 primary- and greater coverts glossed greenish-blue, inner feathers 

 of latter tipped buff ; median and lesser coverts more glossy and 

 blue. This plumage is acquired by complete moult in July-Aug. 

 Summer. — Apparently no moult and very little change by abrasion 

 but pale tips wear off innermost secondaries. 



Nestling. — (Not examined.) 



Juvenile. — Like adult but cro\vn, mantle and scapulars dark 

 brown with slight bluish gloss on crown and more on mantle 

 and scapulars but much less than in adult, most feathers very 

 narrowly tipped buff ; nuchal collar and rump paler than in adult, 

 rufous-buff rather than chestnut ; long upper tail-coverts brown- 

 black with slight gloss and tipped buff ; under-parts paler with no 

 shaft -lines on belly, dark browai patch at sides of breast ; long 

 under tail-coverts brown-black ; tail and wing-feathers and all 

 wing -coverts browner and with very little gloss, secondaries narrowly 

 tipped buff, inner secondaries and all wing-coverts more broadly 

 tipped same ; outer tail-feathers much shorter than in adult. 



First winter. — Apparently like adults. The juvenile body- 

 plumage is moulted in autumn often beginning in July and apparently 

 also wings and tail but no specimen sufficiently advanced in moult 

 has been available to make certain of this. 



Measurements and structure. — (^ wing 117-126 mm., tail : central 

 pair 40-45, outermost pair 88-111, tarsus 12.5-13.5, bill from skull 

 9-10 (14 measured). $ wing 115-123, tail : central pair 39-47, outer- 

 most pair 85-102 (usually not so narrow as in male and rather more 

 often with grey mark on inner web but these characters are not 

 constant). Juvenile^ wing 116-122, tail : central pair 40-43, outer- 

 most pair 73-80 (broader than in adults and grey mark usually 

 present). Primaries : 1st minute, about half primary-coverts, 2nd 

 longest, 3rd 1-4 mm shorter, 4th 6-12 shorter, 5th 14-20 shorter, 

 6th 22-27 shorter ; outer webs not emarginated. Rest of structure 

 as in Swallow. 



Characters and allied forms. — H. d. daurica (east Siberia, 

 Mongolia, Kansu) has nuchal band broken centrally Avith metallic- 

 blue ; H. d. nipalensis (Himalayas, China, Japan) is similar to last but 

 has heavily streaked under-parts ; H. d. striolata (south China) has 

 whiter under-parts with still broader streaks and nuchal band is 

 almost obscured by metallic-blue ; H. d. erythropygia (India) is 

 shorter in wing and tail, has rump and shorter upper tail-coverts 

 deeper chestnut and fine streaks on under-parts. Chestnut nuchal 

 collar and rump distinguish H. d. rujida from all other British 

 Swallows. 



Field -characters. — In general appearance resembles Common 

 Swallow and has a similar longforked tail, but is at once distinguished 

 by its chestnut rump, shading into white, and at closer quarters 

 by rufous nape. Note in flight slightly different and flight more 



