HIRUNDO ALBIGULARIS, >^fm-R 



WH ITE-THEO ATED SWALLOW. 



Mlrniido rufifrons (nee VieilL), Less. Traite d'Orn. p. 208 (1831) ; Grill, Zool. 



Anteckn. p. 35 (1858). 

 Uirundo alhigular'is, Strickl. CoD.tr. Orn. 1849, p. 17, pi. 15 ; Cass. Cat. Uinuid. 



Mus. Pbilad. Acad. p. 2 (1853) ; Shai-pe, P. Z. S. 1870, p. 308 ; id. Cat. AtV. W. 



p. 46 (1871) ; Ayres, Ibis, 1873, p. 281 ; Eisclier & Pteiclieno^v, J. f. 0. Is7i), 



p. 344; Bocage, Orn. Angola, p. 185 (1881); Butler, Pcildeu, & lleid, Zool. 



1882, p. 251 ; Salvin, Cat. Strickl. Coll. p. 150 (1882) ; Sharpe, cd Layard's B. 



S. Afr. p. 361 (1882) ; id. Cat. Birds iu Brit. Mus. x. p. 116 (1885) ; Sjebolim, Ibis, 



1887, p. 312. 

 Hlrundo albigula, Bp. Consp. i. p. 338 (1850) ; Gurney, Ibis, 18(55, p. 2() t ; Layard, 



B. S. Afr. p. 55 (1867); Gray, Hand-1. B. i. p. 68, no. 787 (ISOO) ; Ayres. ll)is, 



1876, p. 421, 1878, p. 285, 1880, p. 260. 

 Uirundo ambigua, Bocage, Orn. Angola, p. 186 (1880). 



II. urnpvgio pileoque clialybeo-nigris, ilorso concoloribus : froiite ca-<tanea : giila alba : torcjuo |ira'- 

 pectorali chalybeo-oigro. 



Ilab. ill Africa meridionali. 



Adult male. Above glossy steel-blue; quills blackisli, with a blue gloss on the upper surface : the inner- 

 most greater coverts mai'ked on the interior web with a greyish-white spot, which is generally 

 hidden by the scapulars ; tail blue-black, the two centre t'eatlicrs un>;pottcd, but all the others 

 inarkeil on the inner web with a large patch of white; forehead deep t'l'.estnut ; lores black; 

 sides of face and ear-coverts steel-blue; throat, cheeks, and sides of the neck \\hite; below the 

 throat a broad band of glossy steel-blue feathers, broad at the sides and narrow in the ccTitre of 

 the breast; the rest of the under surface of the body greyish ash-eolour. the under tail-eoverls 

 whiter at the ends, with occasionally a tiny subterniinal black sjjot ; under wing-coverls and 

 axilhiries like the breast, the latter whiter on their margins; hill black: feet dark !)ro\vn. 

 Total length G'.") inches, cidnien ()■ ['i, wing j:.', tail oO.'), tarsus ()■ 1.".. 



The (iilull fciiKih- is similar in i)liuuage to the male, and has ulinosl exactly the same dimensions. 



The lioiniii bird is unkn(>wn to us. The colhir on the Fore neck is very often so nineh broken \\\\ in tlio 

 centre as to become almost iuterru[)ted, and then the species approaehcs very closely to //. ntliin- 

 jrica. As a rule, the males have a broader and more perfect ])ra'|icetoral collar: but even in 

 some of the most beautiful sijceimcns the collar is as im|ierfeet as in most of the fcni:dc^. The 

 fine stccl-binc gloss which char;ieteri/.es tlie fnll-])lumagcd birds sull'ers much deterioration during 

 the breeding-season, and the gloss becomes of a dull pnrplish shade. 



