90 Mr. R. Svvinhoe on the Ornithology of Hainan. 



T" 19. Cypselus tinus, sp. n. 



Above deep sepia-brown, with a slight deep green iridescence, 

 rump lighter, beneath much brighter. Wing and tail brownish- 

 black, the former with pale inner edges. Between the bill and 

 eye a whitish spot. Bill and legs blackish-brown, with a pink 

 tinge. Iris deep hazel. 



Length about 4*5 ; wing 4*75 ; first quill attenuating to the 

 tip, and 'SS in. shorter than the second; tail 2*25, middle 

 rectrices '870 shorter than the laterals. 



The female is a trifle shorter in the wing, but is otherwise 

 similar to the male. 



This species is of the same typical form as C. batassiensis, 

 Gray, of India and Burmah, but is smaller, more deeply co- 

 loured, with a shorter and narrower bill, longer wings, and less 

 forked tail. It appears to be a good second species of the 

 Palm-Swift type, which connects Cj/pselus with Collocalia. 



I first noticed this little species at Tai-ping-sze (Central 

 Hainan), where a single pair passed over my head, and I shot 

 one. Among the cocoanut-trees, on the sand-banks of the 

 Lingshuy lagoon (S.E. Hainan), they were common enough, 

 and we procured several. It was the 10th of March, but there 

 did not appear any signs of nidification. On the 18th of March 

 at Nychow (S. Hainan) I again saw numbers of them flying 

 backwards and forwards over a wood near the city. 



20. ?ACANTHYLIS CAUDACUTA (Lath.). 



A Chinese work on the island of Hainan, in its list of birds, 

 mentions a large species of Swallow, "as big as a Dove"*, which 



* " There are two kinds of Swallows in Hainan — the ' Yiie ' [Hii-undo 

 gutturalis] and the ' Hoo ' \_H. dauricfi]. There is also a Sea-Swallow 

 as hig as a Dove, that comes each spring to nestle in the rocky cliffs, dan- 

 gerous precipices with piles of spinous grasses. The natives wait till the 

 birds' autumnal departure, and then, by means of a shovel at the end of a 

 long pole, collect the nests for sale. They are termed ' Sea-Swallows' 

 nests,' and are now also procured from the overhanging cliffs and inacces- 

 sible crevices of the islands of Nychow and Wanchow. They are more 

 excellent than the ' Birds' nests ' bought from foreign vessels ; but, as 

 the year's produce only consists of a few pounds, they are extremely dif- 

 ficult to obtain." — Kiung-shan-Heen Che (An Account, Historical and 

 Statistical, of the Kiungshau District of Hainan.) 



