166 CYPSELID^!. 



Cypselus acuticauda, Blyth MS., Jerdon, B. I. iii, p. 870 (1864) - r 



Blyth, Ibis, 1865, p. 45; 1866, p. 339; Jerdon, Ibis, 1871, p. 355 j 



Hume, S. F. ii, p. 156 ; id. Cat. no. 99 bis. 

 Cypelus pekinensis, Swinhoe, P. Z. S. 1870, p. 435; 1871, p. 345;. 



Brooks, S. F. iii, p. 231; Scully, S. F. iv, p. 132; x, p. 100; id. 



Ibis, 1881, p. 428 ; Hume, S. F. vii, p. 365 ; viii, p. 411 ; id. Cat. 



no. 99 quat. ; Sharpe, Yarkand Miss., Aves, p. 112. 

 Micropus apus (& M. pekinensis, subsp.), Hartert, Cat. B. M. xvi r 



pp. 442-444. 



Coloration. Except the chin and middle of the throat, which 

 are whitish, generally with indications of dark shaft-stripes, the 

 whole plumage is dark brown, or blackish brown, with a greenish 

 gloss. In younger specimens the forehead is pale, and the 

 feathers, especially on the crown, wing-coverts (above all the 

 under coverts near the edge of the wing), and abdomen, have pale 

 edges. 



Bill blackish brown ; iris dark brown ; feet purplish 

 brown. 



Length about 7 ; tail 3 ; wing 7 ; tarsus 0*5 ; the outer exceed 

 the middle rectrices by about an inch or rather more. 



Distribution. A migratory bird, breeding throughout the greater 

 part of the Palaearctic region, and spending the winter chiefly in 

 Africa. It is found in Kashmir and the Western Himalayas 

 generally, and in Afghanistan. A single specimen was shot at 

 Port Blair, Andaman Islands, on July 30th, 1873, but the species 

 has not been observed in the Eastern Himalayas, Assam, or 

 Burma. 



Habits, fyc. This is a bird of powerful flight, though inferior to 

 the Alpine Swift. It is almost constantly on the wing in the 

 daytime hawking insects, generally high in the air, or playing 

 about in flocks, and uttering its harsh screaming call. It roosts 

 and breeds on high buildings and cliffs, much as C. affinis does, 

 but it has not been observed to breed within Indian limits, where 

 it is, as a rule, only a winter visitor. 



1070. Cypselus muriuus. The Pale Brown Swift. 



Cypselus murinus, Brehm, Vollstdnd. Vogelfang, p. 46 (1855). 

 Cypselus pallidus, Shelley, Ibis, 1870, p. 445 ; 1871, p. 47 ; Hume, 



S. F. vii, p. 365 ; viii, p. 411 ; id. Cat. no. 99 ter. 

 Micropus murinus (subsp. ofM.. apus), Hartert, Cat. M. xvi, p. 446. 



Similar to C. apus, but distinctly paler ; greyish brown (mouse- 

 brown) almost throughout ; the white throat more extended and 

 passing more into the brown on its edges. On the abdomen the 

 dark subterminal bands and whitish edges of the feathers appear 

 persistent at all ages. Wing 6-5 to 6-7, or a little shorter than 

 in C. apus. 



Distribution. The desert region ; Northern Africa (and occa- 

 sionally Southern Europe) and South-western Asia. This species- 



