290 MR. R.B. SHARPE ON ETHIOPIAN HIRUNDINID&. [May 12, 
Specimens 1 to 4 are in the Leyden Museum ; and I am glad to see 
that no. 3, which has been more recently received than Temminck’s 
types, has been labelled by Professor Schlegel H. holomelena. This 
shows that he holds the same opinion as myself ; for if Psalidoproene 
obscura were a distinct species from Ps. holomelena, the bird sent 
by Governor Nagtlas from Elmina would belong to the former species, 
as it is absolutely identical in coloration with the type—that is to 
say, is more dusky underneath than ordinary adult Ps. holomelena. 
Colonel Grant, in his ‘ Walk across Africa’ (p. 127), speaks of a 
Swallow having been observed, a// élack in colour, which Drs. 
Finsch and Hartlaub, in their new work on East-African Ornithology, 
suggest may possibly have been Ps. obscura. Dr. Th. von Heuglin, 
in his ‘Ornithologie Nord-Ost Afrika’s’ (p. 148), goes further and 
includes it (with a query) as a species occurring within his limits, 
but on no other authority than the quotation from Colonel Grant’s 
work. I cannot see that there is any good reason for supposing 
that this was the bird observed ; and it is just as likely to have been 
a sex of Ps. albiceps. 
2. PSALIDOPROCNE PRISTOPTERA. 
Hirundo pristoptera, Ripp. N. Wirb. t. 39. fig. 2 (1835, descr. 
orig. ). 
une pristoptera, Gray, Gen. of B. i. p. 58 (1845); id. Cat. 
Fiss. Brit. Mus. p. 21 (1848); Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av. i. p. 337 
(1850) ; Mill. Journ. f. Orn. 1855, p. 4; Heugl. Journ. f. Orn. 
1861, p. 420, et 1863, p. 4; Brehm, Reise nach Habesch, p. 208 
(1863). 
Chelidon pristoptera, Riipp. Syst. Uebers. p. 22 (1845). 
Chelidon (?) pristoptera, Heugl. Syst. Uebers. p. 17 (1856). 
Psalidoprocne pristoptera, Sclater, P. Z.S. 1864, p. 109 ; Heugl. 
Orn. N.-O. Afr. p. 148 (1869) ; Blanf. Geol. & Zool. Abyss. p. 349 
1870). 
( “ Atticora albiscapulata, Riipp.,” Boie, Isis, 1844, p. 172. 
Atticora albiscapulata, Gray, Hand-l. of B. i. p. 73 (1869). 
Pristoptera typica, Bonap. Rivist. Contemp. Torin. 1857, p. 4. 
Above glossy blue-black, with a greenish tinge on the wings and 
tail; quills greenish black, the inner web dusky ; tail much forked, 
greenish black above, dusky underneath ; under surface of the body 
glossy blue-black; under wing-coverts white. Total length 5:5 
inches ; of bill from front 0°2, from gape 0°4; wing 4°4; tail 3:0; 
tarsus 0°35, middle toe 0°4, hind toe (0-2, lateral toes 0°25. 
Hab. North-eastern Africa ; Galla Country, Central and North- 
ern Abyssinia to 17° N. (Heuglin) ; Dongolo, Tigré (Blanford). 
According to Von Heuglin, this species is a migratory bird in 
Abyssinia, and appears about the end of April or the beginning of 
May in the localities above given. It lives in pairs in the rocky 
parts of the country from 4000 to 10,000 feet above the sea, breeds 
abcut the beginning of July in holes in the rocks, and lays two white 
eggs. It has two broods a year. Von Heuglin (/.c.) also gives 
some more, very interesting details respecting its habits. 
