8 BIRDS OF BRITISH BURMAH. 



the greyish- white lores spot, and the darker shafting of the abdomen, 

 vent, lower tail-coverts and rump, coupled with the large size of the 

 species, serve to distinguish it. 



" Le-s feathered almost to the foot, blackish brown ; feet and bill 



bJack. 



" Length 5'1 to 5'3 inches; tail 2'1 to 2'2; wing 5'2 to 5'5 ; tarsus '4 

 to '5 ; bill from gape -6." (Hume $ Davison.) 



Hume's Swiftlet was discovered in the Andaman Islands by Mr. Hume. 

 It appears to be rare there, for only one specimen was procured during 

 Mr. Hume's voyage. 



Mr. Davison met with it in Tenasserim, where, he says, it appears at 

 Mergui, and southwards, from time to time, in moderately large numbers. 



It is probably this species which Mr. Blyth notes in the ' Birds of Burmah' 

 under the name of C. linchi as occurring in Arrakan and Mergui. 



Mr. Davison remarks that this Swiftlet " hawks about along the coast, 

 up estuaries, along the course of creeks and rivers, over paddy-fields, and 

 sometimes a little way inland. During the day they usually keep high up 

 and out of shot, but descend lower in the evening. They fly swiftly, and 

 are not always easy to shoot. They come and go, and probably breed on 

 some of the islands of the Mergui archipelago." 



The nest of this Swiftlet, so far as I know, has not yet been discovered 

 by any naturalist. 



The true C. fuciphaga, from Java, is similar in coloration to C. innomi- 

 nata y but differs in being much smaller, the wing never exceeding 5 inches 

 in length. C. unicolor and C. bremrostris, the former from the Neilgherries 

 and the latter from the Himalayas, are also similar, but smaller again than 

 C. fuciphaga. 



408. COLLOCALIA SPODIOPYGIA. 



PEALE'S SWIFTLET. 



Macropteryx spodiopygius, Peak, Zool U.S. Expl. Exped., Birds, 1st edit. p. 176. 

 Collocalia spodiopygia, Cassin, U.S. Expl Exped., Orn. p. 184, pi. xii. 

 fig. 3; Wallace, P. Z. S. 1863, p. 384; Hume, S. F. i. p. 296, ii. p. 160; id. 

 Nests and Eggs, p. 91 ; Hume $ Uav. S. F. vi. p. 51 ; Hume, S. F. viii. p. 85. 

 Collocalia inexpectata, Hume, S. F. i. p. 296. 



Description. Male and female. The whole upper plumage smoky brown ; 

 a band across the rump ashy white, with the shafts darker; wings and 

 tail glossy brown ; lower plumage uniform pale smoky brown. 



Legs and feet brownish pink; claws brown; bill black; irides deep 

 brown. (Davison.} 



