APPENDIX A 283 



stripe are black, glossed with steel-blue and the cheeks 

 and throat are cinnamon. In both sexes the bill is 

 short, thick and curved. The male has the eye bright 

 red, while in the female it is hazel. 



FAM I LY C\ 'PSELID.E — SW^ FTS. 



The Swifts, though of especial interest, are not very 

 numerously represented in the collection. The commonest 

 species was that known as the Esculent Swiftlet {Collo- 

 calia fuciphaga) which produces the best kind of edible 

 nest. 



A very interesting discovery was the existence in 

 New Guinea of the large fork-tailed species Collocalia 

 whiteheadi originally described by myself from the high- 

 lands of Luzon, Philippine Islands. 



A remarkable Spine-tailed Swift (Clicetura novce- 

 guinecB) is new to the National Collection. It was fairly 

 common on the Mimika River and originally described 

 by Count Salvadori from specimens procured by D'Albertis 

 on the Fly River. 



A pair of the magnificent Moustached Swift (Macro- 

 pteryx mystacea) with a wing expanse of more than two 

 feet were also procured. The plumage of this bird is 

 mostly grey, but the crown, wings, and long deeply- 

 forked tail are black glossed with purplish-blue. The 

 eye-brows and moustache-stripes as well as the scapulars 

 are white, the two former being composed of lengthened, 

 narrow, pointed plumes. The male has a small chestnut 

 spot behind the ear-coverts which is absent in the female. 

 The nesting-habits of this species are very curious, it 

 makes a very small exposed half-saucer-shaped nest of 

 bark and feathers gummed by saliva to a branch or 

 stump barely large enough to contain the single white 

 egg, and ridiculously small in comparison with the size 

 of the bird. When incubating, the greater part of the 



