CHERAMCECA LEUCOSTERNUM [Gould). 



WHITE-BREASTED SWALLOW. 



Hirundo leucostemus, Gould, P. Z. S. 1840, p. 172. 



Atticora leucostemon, Gray, Gen. B. i. p. 58 (1815) ; Gould, B. Austr. fol. pi. 12 

 (1848) ; Cass. Cat. Hirund. Mus. Philad. Acad. p. 6 (1853) ; Diggles, Orn. Austr. 

 pi. 21. fig. 2 ; Gray, Hand-1. B. i. p. 73, no. 863 (1869). 



Atticora leucostema, Bp. Consp. i. p. 337 (1850). 



Cheramoeca leucostema, Cab. Mus. Ilein. Th. i. p. 49 (1850) ; Gould, Handb. B. 

 Austr. i. p. 115 (1865). 



Cheramoeca leucostemon, Ramsay, Proo. Linn. Soc. N. S. W. ii. p. 179 (1878). 



Cheramoeca leucostemum, Sliarpe, Cat. Birds in Brit. Mus. x. p. 171 (1885) ; Rain- 

 say, Tab. List Austr. B. p. 3 (1888). 



C. pileo albo, plutnis basaliter brunneo variegatis : subtus alba. 



Hab. in Australia. 



Adult. Upper surface particoloured ; crown of head white, with brown centres to the feathers ; nape 

 and hind neck as well as the sides of the neck brown ; mantle and upper back white, the lateral 

 feathers blackish along the outer web; scapulars, lower back, rump, and upper tail-coverts blue- 

 black ; least wing-coverts brown ; remainder of the wing-coverts, bastard-wing, primary-coverts, 

 and quills blue-black, browner on the inner webs of the feathers ; tail-feathers blackish ; lores 

 blackish brown ; ear-coverts brown ; cheeks, throat, fore neck, and breast white, extending 

 slightly down the flanks ; centre of lower breast, abdomen, and under tail-coverts blue-black ; 

 thighs white; axillaries and under wing-coverts white, with a slight wash of smoky brown ; 

 quills dusky brown : " bill blackish brown ; legs and feet greenish grey ; iris dark reddish brown" 

 (/. Gould). Total length 5"5 inches, culmen 025, wing 3'95, tail 3, tarsus 0'5. 



\oung. Differs from the adult in having the whole head brown, with only a streak of white across the 

 forehead extending backwards above the eye ; the quills edged with white. Total length 4'6 

 inches, wing 38, tail 2-15, tarsus 0'5. 



Hab. Confined to the Southern, Interior, and South-western portions of Australia. 



This peculiar species of Swallow was first discovered by Mr. Charles Coxen, who sent a 

 specimen shot on the banks of the Nanioi to Mr. Gould in 1840. Dr. E. P. Ramsay gives 

 its habitat as New South Wales, the interior of the Continent, Victoria, South Australia, 

 West and South-west Australia. It appears occasionally in collections from the Swan 

 River, but is by no means a common species in museums. 



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