PETROCHELIDON FLUVICOLA [Blyth), 



INDIAN CLIFF-SWALLOW. 



P Red-headed Swallow, Lath. Gen. Syn. ii. pt. 2, p. 57, pi. lvi. (1783). 



? Hirundo erythrocephala, Gin. Syst. Nat. i. p. 1024 (1788, ex Lath.) ; Gray, Cat. 



Fissir. Brit. Mus. p. 25 (1848). 

 Herse erythrocephala, Bp. Consp. i. p. 340 (1850). 

 Hirundo fiuvicola, Blyth, J. A. S. B. xxiv. p. 471 (1855, ex Jerd. MSS.) ; Jerd. B. 



Ind. i. p. 161 (1862) ; Blyth, Ibis, 1866, p. 337 ; Blanf. Ibis, 1867, p. 462 ; Gray. 



Hand-1. B. i. p. 70, no. 819 (1869); Jerd. Ibis, 1871, p. 352; Hayes Lloyd, Ibis, 



1873, p. 406 ; Adam, Str. F. 1S73, p. 370 ; Aitken, Str. F. 1875, p. 213 ; Butler, 



t. c. p. 439; Davidson & Wenden, Str. F. 1878, vol. ii. p. 76; Hume, t. c. p. 97 ; 



Ball, t. c. p. 202 ; Hume, Str. F. 1879, p. 84 ; Butler, Cat. B. Siud &c. p. 13 



(1879); id. Cat. B. S. Bomb. Fres. p. 14 (1880); Vidal, Str. F. 1880, p. 43 ; 



Butler, t. c. p. 378 ; Davidson & Wenden, Str. F. 1882, p. 293. 

 Lagenoplastes empusa, Blyth, Ibis, 1806, p. 337 (ex Gould, MSS.). 

 Hirundo Jluminicola, Sclater, F. Z. S. 1867, p. 832. 

 Lagenoplastes flavicola, Gould, B. Asia, i. pi. 33 (1868) ; Hume, Nests and Eggs of 



Indian Birds, p. 80 (1873) ; id. Str. F. 1875, p. 452 ; Fairb. Str. F. 1876, p. 251 ; 



Butler, Str. F. 1877, p. 217. 

 Petrochelidon fluvicola, Sharpe, Cat. Birds in Brit. Mus. x. p. 200 (1885). 



P. pileo rufo ; uropygio fumoso-brunneo, plumis basaliter fuscescentibus ; gutture et praspectore dis- 

 tincte nigro striolatis. 



Hab. in peninsula Indict. 



Adult male. General colour above glossy blue-black, mottled -with white streaks where the bases to 

 the feathers show through ; lesser wing-coverts like the back, the remainder dusky blackish, 

 glossed with steel-green externally ; rump and upper tail-coverts dark smoky brown, mottled 

 with blackish bases to the feathers, many of which are glossed with blue ; upper tail-coverts 

 smoky brown ; tail-feathers blackish with a slight steel-green gloss ; crown of head dull brick- 

 red with blackish shaft-lines ; lores white, separated from the forehead by a line of black ; ear- 

 coverts dusky brown, with narrow streaks of fulvous brown; cheeks, throat, and breast white, 

 broadly streaked with blackish shafts ; abdomen and under tail-coverts pure white, with narrow 

 dusky shaft-lines ; sides of body smoky brown, streaked with blackish shaft-lines ; under wing- 

 coverts and axillaries also dark smoky brown, with narrow shaft-lines of darker brown ; quills 

 dusky below, paler along the inner web. Total length 4"5 inches, culmen 025, wing 4'6, 

 tail l - 75, tarsus - 4. 



There is scarcely any difference in the colour of the sexes when adult. The female is a little 



