HYPOCOLIUSHEM1CHELIDON 251 



< ad. Crown dull isabelline grey ; a narrow line at base of bill, lores, 

 space round the eye, ear-coverts, and a broad band across the nape and 

 hind-neck deep black ; upper parts, wing- coverts, and outer webs of 

 secondaries pale blue-grey washed with isabelline ; quills deep black with 

 a broad white terminal band, the secondaries marked with black on the 

 inner web ; tail like the back but broadly terminated with deep black \ 

 under parts greyish isabelline^ rather greyer on the breast ; bill black ; legs 

 yellowish; iris brown. Culmen 0'6, wing 3-9, tail 4*5, tarsus 0'9 inch. 

 Female rather smaller, more isabeliine in tinge, lacking the black on the 

 head, and has the primaries isabelline tinged with grey and tipped with 

 black, the innermost with a narrow apical white margin. 



Hob. Persia and the shores of the Persian Gulf; wintering in 

 N.E. Africa ; has occurred in Sind and Khelat. 



Respecting its habits I find scarcely anything on record, 

 except that it frequents desert or semi-desert localities and 

 is usually seen amongst the palm-trees. It breeds in June and 

 July, building a substantial cup-shaped nest, lined with fine 

 grass, plant cotton, wool, and sometimes hair, which it usually 

 places on the leaf of a date-palm at from 3 to 10 feet above the 

 ground. The eggs, from 4 to 6 in number, are glossy leaden 

 white, rarely with a greenish tinge, with lead-coloured blotches 

 and spots, which are sometimes spread over the entire egg, and 

 sometimes form a ring round the larger end. In size they 

 average about 0'85 by 0*63. 



HEMICHELIJDON, Hodgson, 1845. 



375. SIBERIAN FLYCATCHER. 

 HEMICHELIDON SIBIRICA. 



Hemichelidon sibirica (Gmel.), Syst. Nat. i. p. 936 (1780) ; Gates, Faun. 

 Brit. Ind. Birds, ii. p. 5 ; Sharpe, Cat. B. Br. Mas. iv. p. 120 ; 

 Tacz. F. 0. Sib. 0. p. 475 ; H. fuliginosa, Hodgs. P.Z.S. 1845, 

 p. 32 ; Jerdon, B. of Ind. i/p. 458. 



Dang-chim-pa-plio, Lepch. 



ad. (India). Upper parts with the wings and tail dark brown, 

 secondaries and wing-coverts with pale margins ; a white ring round the 

 eye ; lores mixed white and brown ; middle of throat and abdomen white, 

 the rest of the under parts smoky brown striped with dull greyish white ; 

 bill dark brown, yellowish below ; legs brownish black ; iris brown. 

 Culmen 0*45, wing 3'1, tail 2*15, tarsus 0-5 inch. Sexes alike. The 

 young have the upper parts streaked and spotted, the lesser wing-coverta 

 tipped, and the larger coverts and quills margined with fulvous, and the 



