298 MR. R. B.SHARPE ON ETHIOPIAN HIRUNDINIDZ&. [May 12, 
i. p. 97 (1854) ; Layard, B. of S. Afr. p. 58 (1867); Gurney, Ibis, 
1868, p. 43; Heugl. Orn. N.-O. Afr. 1. p. 164 (1869); Finsch & 
Hartl. Orn. Ostafr. p. 144 (1870); Blanf. Geol. & Zool. Abyss. 
p- 349 (1870). 
Brown-collared Swallow, Lath. Gen. Syn. ii. p. 577. 
Hirundo torquata, Gm. Syst. Nat. i. p. 1022 (1788); Lath. Ind. 
Orn. ii. p. 579 (1790) ; Bon. et Vieill. Enc. Méth. ii. p. 522 (1823). 
Cotyle torquata, Riipp. Syst. Uebers. p. 22 (1845); Bonap. 
Consp. Gen. Av. i. p. 342 (1850); Mull. J. f. 0.1855, p.4; Heugl. 
Syst. Uebers. p. 17 (1856) ; zd. Ibis, 1859, p. 339; id. Peterm. 
Mitth. 1861, p. 21. 
Adult. Above greyish brown, darker on the head and paler on 
the rump, where the dark shafts of the feathers become plainer ; 
quills dark brown, the secondaries edged at the tip with whitish, tail 
dark brown, narrowly margined with whitish, no spots on the inner 
webs; lores black ; ear-coverts dark brown; a patch of feathers 
extending from the nostrils to the eye, throat, breast, under wing- 
and tail-coverts pure white; a band across the breast and thighs 
brown; bill black; feet dark brown; eye hazel. Total length 
6 inches, of wing 4°8, tail 2°0. 
Young. Similar to the adult, but has the plumage somewhat 
darker ; rump very pale brown with a light rufous tinge; the whole 
of the upper surface, quills, and the band on the breast with rusty 
edgings to the feathers; bill dark horny brown; feet brown. Total 
length 6 inches, wing 4:7, tail 2°0. 
Hab. N.E. Africa (Riippell, Heuglin); Natal (Mus. R. B.S.) ; 
Cape Colony (Layard). 
This species must stand as Cotyle cincta (Bodd.), as this name, 
founded on Buffon’s 723rd plate, takes precedence over Gmelin’s 
name of torquata, also founded on the same plate. The name of the 
latter, however, has generally been assigned by writers on North- 
eastern Africa to the Abyssinian bird, either by an oversight or from 
a supposition that it was distinct from the South-African form. I 
have had the opportunity of comparing an Abyssinian specimen with 
a series of skins in my collection from Natal and the Cape Colony, 
and I am unable to detect any characters whereby to distinguish 
them specifically. The Abyssinian bird is just a trifle larger, but in 
my opinion it cannot in any way be separated from the South-Afri- 
can species to which Boddaert’s name is primarily referable. 
The present species is distinguished from all the other Sand- 
martins (1) by its large size, (2) by the pure white under the wing- 
coverts. With the exception of this latter difference, it is a large 
edition of our Common Sand-martin (Cotyle riparia), of which it is 
the southern representative, as Mr. F. R. Surtees well remarked to 
me in one of his letters. 
As regards its occurrence in N.E. Africa, Dr. von Heuglin writes 
as follows :—‘ This bird is a migrant in N.E. Africa. Riippell 
found it in Barakit, I at Adowa, Mareb, Provinces of Dembea and 
Eifag, from early in May, through the rainy season, and in October 
at a marsh hetween Tedjura and Ghubet-harab on the Adail coast.” 
