1870.) MR. R. B, SHARPE ON ETHIOPIAN HIRUNDINID&. 291 
The description and measurements are taken from an adult speci- 
men kindly lent me by Mr. Blanford. He shot it himself on the 
15th of May, 1868, at Dongolo in the province of Tigré, at an ele- 
vation of 6500 feet. He also informs that he saw it occasionally in 
the highlands of Abyssinia and also in the Anseba valley, but never 
below 4000 feet elevation. 
3. PSALIDOPROCNE NITENS. 
Atticora nitens, Cass. Proc. Acad. Philad. 1857, p. 38 (descr. 
orig.) ; Hartl. Orn. Westafr. p. 261 (1857); Cass. Proc. Acad. 
Philad. 1859, p. 33; Hartl. Journ. f. Orn. 1861, p. 103; Du 
Chaillu, Equat. Afr. p. 472 (1861). 
Above glossy greenish black, very bright and distinct both above 
and below; quills dark brown, glossed with greenish above, as also 
is the tail, which is quite square; bill black; feet light brown. 
Total length 4°3 inches, wing 3°8, tail 2°2. 
Hab. Muni and Ogobai Rivers, Gaboon (Du Chaillu). 
This is a beautiful little Swallow, of apparently a more robust 
build than either Ps. holomelena or Ps. pristoptera, which, by rea- 
son of their long forked tails, have a graceful and slender appearance. 
The plumage of the present species is also much more brilliant and 
glossy. The description and measurements are from a very fine skin 
in the British Museum, from West Africa. 
4, PSALIDOPROCNE ALBICEPS. 
Psalidoprocne albiceps, Sclater, P. Z.S. 1864, p. 108, pl. xiv. ; 
Heugl. Orn. N.-O. Afr. p. 147. 
Atticora albiceps, Finsch & Hartl. Orn. Ost-Afr. p. 133 (1869). 
I am unable to give a detailed description of this beautiful Swallow, 
as the original specimen, which was preserved in spirit and presented 
by Dr. Sclater to the British Museum, cannot now be found. The 
following is Dr. Sclater’s original description :— 
“ P, nigra, pileo et gula summa albis. 
“Long. tot. 5°5, ale 4:2, caude rectr. ext. 3:1, rectr. med, 2°2 
oll. 
“Capt. Speke has brought home in spirit from Uzinza a single 
example of this apparently new Swallow of the section Psalidoprocne. 
It seems to form a third of this little African group, which is dis- 
tinguished from true Hirundo by its long cleft tail, short tarsi, small 
feet, and the saw-like margination of the outer edge of the first 
primary.” 
Colonel Grant has mentioned it in his ‘ Walk across Africa’ 
(p. 127), and has also very kindly favoured me with a note :— 
‘Extract from my journal dated ‘ Usui, Central Africa, Oct. 16, 
1861. Black Swallow with white forehead and throat under the 
jaw, with forked tail. Black Swallow, smaller*. Seen together 
about scarped rocks; at least it was here I first observed them.” 
* This is the bird referred by Von Heuglin to Ps, obscura. I think it just as 
likely to be the female of Ps. albiceps. 
