328 ALLEN'S NATURALIST'S LIBRARY. 



species, C. cashmiriensis and C. nipahnsis, are Himalayan. 

 It will thus be seen that all the House-Martins are denizens of 

 the Old World only. 



THE HOUSE-MARTIN. CHELIDON URBICA. 



Hirundo urbica. Linn., Syst. Nat., i., p. 344 (1766); Macg., 

 Br. B., iii., p. 573 (1840); Sedb., Br. B., ii., p. 178 

 (1884). 



Chelidon urbica, Dresser, B. Eur., p. 495, pi. 162 (1875); 

 Newt. ed. Yarr., ii., p. 349 (1880); B. O. U. List Br. B., 

 p. 44 (1883); Saunders, Man., p. 157 (1889); Lilford, 

 Gol. Fig. Br. B., pt. iii. (ii 



Adult Male. Purplish blue-black ; wings and tail-feathers 

 black, with a slight greenish reflection externally ; rump and 

 upper tail-coverts black ; cheeks and under surface of body 

 pure white, with a tinge of smoky-brown on the flanks ; under 

 wing-coverts and axillaries smoky-brown bill and feet black ; 

 iris "dark brown. Total length, 5-5 inches; oilmen, 0-35; 

 wing, 4-5 ; tail, 2-5 ; tarsus, 0-45. 



Adult Female. Similar to the male in colour. Total length, 

 5 inches ; wing, 4'5- 



Young. Differs from the adults in being duller, and dis- 

 tinguished by its yellow gape and the white tips to the secon- 

 dary quills ; the throat is smoky-brown. 



Range in Great Britain. Occurs everywhere in summer, and 

 breeds even in the Hebrides, and in the Orkneys and Shet- 

 lands. 



Range outside the British Islands The House-Martin appears to 

 be found everywhere in Europe, but becomes rarer in the north 

 of Scandinavia, and was not met with by Messrs. Seebohm and 

 Harvie-Brown on the Petchora, though it is said to occur on 

 the Urals as high as 60. Its eastern range is established as 

 far as Tashkend in Central Asia, and it may be the species of 

 the Altai Mountains. In winter the Martin visits Africa as far 

 south as Natal, and also occurs sparingly in North-western 

 India, and has been met with as far south as the Nilghiris. 



Habits. Arrives a little later than the Common Swallow, 



