1870.) MR. R. B. SHARPE ON ETHIOPIAN HIRUNDINIDE, 295 
Genus 4. PHepina. Type. 
Phedina, Bonap. Riv. Contemp. Tor. 1857, p.4 .. P. borbonica. 
Clavis specierum. 
a, tectricibus subcaudalibus albis medio late brunneo striatis 1. borbonica. 
&. tectricibus subcaudalibus fere omnino albis ............046 2. madagascariensis, 
1. PHEDINA BORBONICA. 
Hirondelle de Vile de Bourbon, Buff. Pl. Enl. 544. fig. 2. 
Wheat-Swallow, Lath. Syn. ii. pt. 2. p. 581 (1783, ex Buff.). 
Hirundo borbonica, Gm. Syst. Nat. i. p. 1017 (1788, ex Buff.); 
Lath. Ind. Orn. ii. p. 580 (1790); Gray, Gen. of B. i. p. 58 
(1845) ; Schl. & Poll. Faun. Madag. Ois. p. 68 (1868); Gray, 
Hand-l. of B. i. p. 71 (1869). 
Cotyle borbonica, Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av. i. p. 342 (1850). 
Phedina borbonica, Bonap. Rivist. Contemp. Torin. 1857, p. 4; 
Newt. Ibis, 1861, p. 271; Maill. Notes Réun. p. 162 (1862); 
Newt. Ibis, 1862, p. 270, et 1863, p. 340; Coq. Alb. de la Réun. 
1865, pp. 19, 20, fig. 2. 
Above dark greyish brown, the centres of the feathers marked 
down the shaft with a narrow streak of black, very distinct on 
the rump ; wing-coverts dark blackish brown ; quills black above, 
greyish underneath ; tail blackish brown above, dark brown beneath, 
paler on the inner web; lores black ; cheeks, sides of the neck, and 
of the breast greyish brown, with darker shaft-stripes; rest of the 
under surface of the body white, longitudinally striped with dark 
brown, the upper part of the breast and flanks somewhat greyish ; 
bill black; feet brown. ‘Total length 5-4 inches, of wing 4°65, 
tail 2. 
According to the late M. Coquerel, a variety of this bird is met 
with in Réunion; but Mr. Pollen has stated his opinion that this 
is but a stage of plumage of the ordinary species. 
The description and measurements are taken from a specimen 
kindly lent me by Prof. Newton. It is a male procured by his 
brother (Mr. Edward Newton) in the Mauritius on the 18th of 
June, 1862. In the ‘Ibis’ for 1862 the last-named gentleman 
states that “since the hurricane of February 1861, which lasted for 
six days, he did not see a single specimen of Phedina borbonica in 
this island. They were never very numerous.” Subsequently he 
writes (Ibis, 1863, p. 340), “TI may here mention, with reference 
to my remark (Ibis, 1862, p. 270, note) that the hurricane of 
1861 has not entirely exterminated this species in Mauritius, but it 
is certainly much rarer; for at the locality in the district of Sa- 
vanne, where I have observed it to be most plentiful, I remained 
for ten days, in June 1862, and never observed more than three 
at once, and as they were always at the same place, they might 
have been the same individuals.” 
2. PHEDINA MADAGASCARIENSIS. 
Phedina madagascariensis, Hartl. Faun. Madag. p. 27 (1861). 
