CLASSIFIED NOTES 501 



THE SWIFTS 1 



[ORDER: Ooroeiiformu, FAMILY: Cypaelidce] 



ALPINE-SWIFT [A/>u* melba (Linnauis) ; Cypselus mJUxt, (Linnaeus). Whitebellied-switt. 

 French, martinet li ventre blanc; German, Alpt'iisegLer; Italian, rondine di mare]. 



1. Description. Distinguished by its very large size and by having the throat and belly 

 white, interrupted by a broad prepectoral band of brown. The sexes are alike in coloration. 

 Length from the bill to the end of the wing, 11 in. [279 mm.]. Whole of the upper surface 

 hair brown, with a slight greenish gloss ; each feather fringed with whitish, more pronounced 

 on the tail ; the wings (9 inches in length) are similar in colour to the back ; tail feathers 

 acuminate and forked, the middle pair being 1 inch shorter than the outermost pair; chin and 

 middle of the throat white ; lores, sides of the throat and the fore-neck similar in colour to 

 the upper parts; under wing, and tail-coverts blackish brown, fringed with whitish, [w. p. r 

 and T. w.] 



2. Distribution. This species breeds in the Mediterranean region, from North-west 

 Africa through Spain and Portugal to the Pyrenees, Switzerland, and the Alpine district, Italy, 

 the Balkan Peninsula, all the larger islands of the Mediterranean, Asia Minor, the Crimea and 

 Caucasus, and from Persia and Transcaspia through Turkestan to the Himalayas and the 

 mountains of Southern India. It is replaced by an allied form in Tropical Africa. The winter 

 quarters of European birds are apparently in Tropical Africa, while Himalayan birds probably 

 winter in South India and Ceylon. As a casual visitor this species has occurred in Germany, 

 Heligoland, Denmark, and thirty times in the British Isles, chiefly in the south of England. 

 [F. c. R. J.] 



NEEDLETAILED-SWIFT [Cluwtilra caudacuta (Latham); Acanthi/Ilia caudacuta (Latham)]. 



1. Description. Cannot be confounded with any other swift, both on account of its 

 size and by the prolongation of the shafts of the tail feathers, which project beyond the 

 tail in the form of stiff spines. The sexes are alike, except that the female is less clearly 

 marked. Length from the tip of the bill to the end of the wing, 11 in. [279 inm.J. Adult 

 top of the head black, glossed with green ; mantle and middle of the back smoky brown ; 

 wing and tail black, very strongly glossed with bluish green ; secondaries black, glossed 

 with green on the outer web, white on the inner web; whole of the throat pure white, 

 sharply defined from the dark smoke-brown chest and belly; under tail-coverts white, 

 [w. P. P. and T. w.] 



2. Distribution. The breeding-grounds of this species lie in Eastern Siberia, from Lake 

 Baikal, the Lena valley, and Irkutsk eastward, and in Mongolia, Manchuria, as well as on the 

 islands of Saghalien and Japan. Its winter quarters are in Australia and Tasmania, and two 

 specimens have been obtained in England (Essex, July 1846, and Hants, July 1879). In the 

 Himalayas it is replaced by an allied race. [F. c. R. J.] 



THE NIGHTJARS 2 



[ORDER: Coraciiformes. FAMILY: Caprimulgidce] 



REDNECKED-NIGHTJAR [Caprimulgus ruficollis Temminck. French, engoulevent a collier 



roux; German, Rothals-Ziegenmelker ; Italian, succiacapre dal collo rosso]. 

 1. Description. Resembles the common-nightjar (Caprimulgua europaius), but differs 

 chiefly in that the sexes do not differ, both male and female having white spots on the wings 



1 Vol. ii. p. 350. z VoL ii. p. 362. 



VOL. IV. 3S 



