HIRUNDO MONTEIRI, Hartl. 



MONTEIRO'S SWALLOW. 



Hirundo monteiri, Hartl. Ibis, 1862, p. 340, pi. ii. ; Gurney, Ibis, 1863, p. 116 ; 

 Kirk, Ibis, 1864, p. 320 ; Gray, Hand-1. B. i. p. 69, uo. 803 (1869) ; Bocage, Jorn. 

 Lisb. 1868, p. 40, 1869, p. 339 ; Finsch & Hartl. Yog. Ostafr. p. 139 (1870) ; 

 Sharpe, P. Z. S. 1870, p. 316 ; id. Cat. Afr. B. p. 46 (1871) ; Gurney in Anderss. 

 B. Dam. Ld. p. 49 (1872) ; Sharpe, P. Z. S. 1873, p. 713 ; id. & Bouvier, Bull. 

 Soc. Zool. France, i. p. 38 (1876); Reicben. J. f. O. 1877, p. 21; Cab. J. f. O. 



1878, p. 222 ; Fischer & Reiohen. t. c. p. 257 ; Fischer, t. c. p. 280 ; id. J. f . O. 



1879, p. 344 ; Bocage, Ora. Angola, p. 181 (1881) ; Shelley, P. Z. S. 1881, p. 565 ; 

 Bobm, J. f. O. 1883, p. 178 ; Schalow, t. c. p. 352 ; Sharpe, ed. Layard's B. S. Afr. 

 p. 368 (1883) ; Fischer, Zeitschr. ges. Orn. i. p. 358 (1884) ; Sharpe, Cat. Birds in 

 Brit. Mus. s. p. 169 (1885) ; Fischer, J. f. O. 1885, p. 128 ; Matschie, J. f. O. 

 1887, p. 152. 



H. major: uropygio rufo : pileo dorso concolore : subtus fere unicolor, minime striata : gula albicantc : 

 rectricibus albo notatis. 



Hab. in Africa orientali (a prov. Zanzibarica risque ad fl. Zambesianuni), in Africa occidentali in pro v. 

 Congensi usque ad terrain Damarensem septentrionalem. 



Male. Above glossy blue-black, the head capped and united to the nape by a broad interrupted band of 

 blue-black feathers ; a narrow line of feathers from the base of the nostrils to the eye dusky ; the 

 sides of the neck very bright rufous ; shoulders and sides of the chest dark blue-black like the 

 back ; breast and under tail-coverts deep rufous, with a black spot near the tip of the longest 

 feathers of the latter; thighs white ; bill and feet black ; iris brown : "inside of mouth yellow " 

 (Fischer). Total length 8 - 5 inches, culmen 045, wing 5'75, tail 4"75, tarsus 065. 



Young. Above blue-black, but not so rich or so glossy as in the adult ; quills and tail dusky brown, 

 with scarcely any perceptible gloss on the upper surface ; lower part of the back pale rufous ; 

 throat, cheeks, and under wing-coverts pure white ; sides of the neck and breast rufous, but not 

 so rich as in the adult ; under tail-coverts rufous, the basal half of the longer feathers 

 black. 



Dr. Reichenow, writing about specimens of this Swallow from the Loango Coast, and Dr. Cabanis, in 

 his account of the late Dr. Hildebrandt's collection, both refer to the variability of the amount of 

 white marking on the tail-feathers, and they are inclined to regard H. monteiri as nothing more 

 than a race of H. senegalensis. Dr. Reichenow remarks : — "The white spot on the tail-feathers, 

 which Dr. Hartlaub considered to be characteristic of the species, is sometimes strongly, sometimes 

 feebly developed. One specimen, moreover, in spite of its white tail-spot, shows a reddish-brown 



