84 THE ZOOLOGIST. 
is quite certain, for, besides what I have mentioned, there were 
several wing-cases of some small Coleoptera in the stomach. 
Iam unable to say what became of the other bird I saw on 
the evening when I first observed them, but that it was one of 
the same species I feel sure. 
[This specimen, now carefully figured by Mr. F. W. Harris, 
we have had the pleasure of examining, and it was exhibited by 
Professor Newton at a meeting of the Zoological Society on the 
6th January last. Although described by Mr. Gould, in his ‘ Birds 
of Australia,’ as “the largest of the Cypselide yet discovered,” it 
does not strike us as differing much in size from the better known 
Alpine Swift. Like that species it has a white throat; but, 
unlikeit, instead of a white belly it has the under tail-coverts 
white, and this white extends up the flanks, giving the bird the 
appearance of having white sides. A remarkable feature also is 
the very pale coloration of the back, which may be described as 
smoke-grey, contrasting strongly with the sooty black wings. 
Mr. Gould, who had opportunities of personally observing 
this species in Australia, and of examining recently killed speci- 
mens, states that the keel of the sternum, or breast-bone, is 
unusually deep, and the pectoral muscles more developed than in 
any other bird of its weight. Its powers of flight he describes 
as truly amazing. He never saw it perch, and it rarely flew 
sufficiently low to be secured by a shot, being, with the exception 
of the Crane, the most lofty as well as the most vigorous flyer of 
all the birds he observed in Australia. 
We may remark that, although generally called “ Spine- 
tailed,” the oldest distinctive English name is “ Needle-tailed,” 
proposed by Latham.* The generic name Acanthyllis (usually, 
but erroneously, written acanthylis) is derived from anavévans, a 
diminutive form, but having the same signification as axavbs, 
meaning “thorny” or “prickly,” and appropriately refers to 
the remarkable character of the tail-feathers as above described. 
What the particular use of these feathers may be can, at present, 
be only conjectured, since we are without any information on 
the subject; but since Jerdon has stated, on the authority of the 
late Col. Tickell, that this Swift breeds among the huge wall- 
* The Needle-tailed Swallow, Latham, Gen. Syn. Supp., vol. ii., p. 307; and 
Pin-tailed Swallow, Latham, Gen. Hist. Birds, vol. yii., p. 2U8. 
