382 MR. A. R.WALLACE ON THE GENUS COLLOCALIA, [NoV. 10, 



The number of teeth is, as I have also observed in immature speci- 

 mens of other species, complete, which shows that also in this re- 

 spect the Prosimii have much affinitj'^ with the Insectivora. The 



formula of teeth is |^ | ^ ^ 1^- '^^^ '^PP^'" ™cisors are not 

 lobated, and the true molars have no third internal series of tubercles, 

 developed from the lingulum, as is observed in Lemur and Micro- 

 cebus. The tongue has its point rounded, not entirely flattened, 

 and sharp-edged as in Lemur and Mici'ocebus. The viscera do not 

 differ in any way from those of other species, as described at large in 

 my work on the Mammalia of Mozambique, where I have also noted 

 the remarkable difference that exists between the Lemurine animals 

 from Madagascar and the other Prosimii, in the peculiar position of 

 the vesica follis, which in the former has its basis turned towards 

 the back. 



4. On the Identification of the Hirundo esculenta op 

 LiNNiEUS, with a Synopsis of the Described Species of 

 Collocalia. By Alfred R. Wallace, F.Z.S. 



The small eastern Swifts which construct the edible nests have 

 been separated by Mr. G. R. Graj' as the genus Collocalia. For 

 more than two hundred years they have attracted the attention of 

 naturalists and travellers ; yet up to the present time the species first 

 described by Rumphius in 1 750, and to which Linnaeus gave the 

 name oi Hirundo esculenta, has remained quite unknown. Four or 

 five other species of the genus have since been described, and speci- 

 mens of all of these are more or less common ; but though some of 

 them have at various times been misnamed esculenta, it is I believe 

 the general opinion of ornithologists that no specimen of the true 

 Linnsean species is known to exist in European collections. 



It is, therefore, with great pleasure that I bring before the Zoolo- 

 gical Society specimens of this long-lost bird ; for the description of 

 Rumphius and the character of Linnaeus are so clear and precise, 

 that there can be no doubt whatever about the identification of the 

 species. The whole bibliography of the subject has been so well 

 worked out in Messrs. Horsfield and Moore's ' Catalogue of the East 

 India Company's Museum' (Birds, i. pp. 99, 100) that I need do 

 no more now than quote what is essential to prove my point. The 

 oldest description of the bird, quoted by Linnaeus, is that of Rum- 

 phius (Herb. Amb. vi. p. 183), who says, " Ipsarum color plerumque 

 niger est cum cceruleo fulgore, sique caudce plumce separentur, in 

 quavis penna alba conspicitur macula." Linnaeus says only, " rec- 

 tricibus omnibus macula alba notatis," which short character is, 

 however, sufficient to distinguish the bird even now from the other 

 species of the genus, all of which have the tail immaculate. My 

 specimens all have these white spots on the tail ; and they were ob- 

 tained in various localities in and around the Moluccas, north, south, 



