HIRUNDO NEOXENA, Gould. 



AUSTRALIAN SWALLOW. 



Sirundo javanlca (nee Sparrm.), Vig. & Horsf. Trans. Linn. Soc. xv. p. 191 (1827) ; 



J. E. Gray in Griffith's An. Kingd. ii. p. 95 (1829). 

 Sirundo pacifica (nee Lath.), J. E. Gray in Griffith's An. Kingd. ii. pi. to p. 96 



(1829). 

 mrundo neoa;ena, Gould, P. Z. S. 1812, p. 131 ; id. B. Austr. fol. ii. pi. 13 (1848) ; 



Blyth, Cat. B. Mus. As. Soc. p. 198 (1849) ; Bp. Consp. i. p. 338 (1850) ; Cab. 



Mus. Hein. Th. i. p. 46 (1850) ; Diggles, Orn. Austr. pi. 22. fig. 1 (1870) ; Sharpe, 



Cat. Birds in Brit. Mus. x. p. 144 (1883). 

 Sirundo frontalis (nee Q. & G.), Gray, Cat. Fissir. Brit. Mus. p. 22 (1848) ; Cass. 



Cat. Hirund. Philad. Mus. p. 2 (1853) ; Gould, Handb. B. Austr. i. p. 107 (1865) ; 



Ramsay, Ibis, 1868, p. 275 ; Gray, Hand-1. B. i. p. 70, no. 812 (1869, pt.) ; 



Ramsay, Proc. Linn. Soc. N. S. W. ii. p. 179 (1878). 

 Sirundo rustica, yhv. frontalis, Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. iii. p. 172 (1883). 



H. minor : uropygio et pileo dorso concoloribus : fronte ruf a : gutture quoqiie rufo : rectricibus intus 

 albo notatis : subcaudalibire pallide fumosis, subterminaliter uigro cordatim fasciatis. 



Hab. in Australia. 



Adult male. General colour above glossy blue, the mantle slightly varied with greyish-white bases to 

 the feathers ; lesser and median wing-coverts like the back ; greater coverts, bastard-wing, 

 primary-coverts, and quills blackish brown, externally washed with steel-blue, more distinct on 

 the inner secondaries ; tail-feathers blackish, slightly glossed with green, tlic two centre feathers 

 and the outermost on each side without any spots, the others with a small rounded spot of wliitc 

 on the inner web ; frontal band deep brick-red, extending from above each eye ; lores dusky 

 blackish; ear-coverts glossy blue like the back; cheeks and throat brick -red, remainder of under 

 surface of body smoky brown from the fore neck downwards; the lower abdomen iiu'lining 

 slightly to ashy whitish; under tail-coverts pale smoky brown witli dull whitish edgings and tips, 

 with a heart-shaped subterminal spot of black ; under wing-eoverts and axilhiries pale smoky 

 brown, all edged with pale rufous ; quills dusky brown below : " bill and legs black ; iris dark 

 brown " {Gould). Total length 5'8 inches, culmen ()'.'5, wing l-.'i,"), tail 2-75, tarsus ()-;3.'j. 



Adult female. Does not dilTer from the male. 



Yovnff. Similar to the adult, but duller in colour, the rufous of the forehead and throat paler, and the 

 white spots on the tail-feathers much more rounded and not so obliciuc. The tail likewise is not 

 nearly so forked. 



Hal). Nearly the whole of Australia and Tasn>ania. 



