PSALIDOPROCNE OBSCURA [Hartl). 



(FANTEE BOUGH-WINGED SWALLOW.) 



Atticora obscura, Temrn. MSS. in Mus. Lugd., unde 



Atticora obscura, Hartl. J. f. O. 1855, p. 35 ; id. Orn. Westafr. p. 26 (1857) ; id. 



J. f. O. 1861, p. 103. 

 Hirundo obscura, Hartl. J. f. O. 1855, p. 360; Gray, Hand-1. B. i. p. 71, no. 831 



(1869). 

 Atticora holomelas, Hartl. Orn. Westafr. p. 25 (1857, nee Sundev.). 

 Psalidoprocne holomeloena, Sharpe, P. Z. S. 1870, p. 288 (pt. ) ; id. Ibis, 1870, p. 179 ; 



id. Cat. Afr. B. p. 45 (1871, pt.) ; Shelley & Buckley, Ibis, 1872, p. 288; Ussher, 



Ibis, 1874, p. 61 ; Eeichen. J. f. 0. 1S75, p. 67. 

 Psalidoprocne obscura, Sharpe, Cat. Birds in Brit. Mus. x. p. 203 (1885). 



Ps. supra nitenti-viridis ; pileo dorso coneolore ; subalaribus pectori concoloribus ; Cauda furcata. 

 Hab. in Africa occidentali cis-cquatoriali. 



Adult male. General colour above glossy bottle-green; tbe bead like tbe back; tbe rump and upper tail- 

 coverts -with somewhat of a steel-blue appearance ; lesser and median wing-coverts like tbe back ; 

 greater coverts, bastard-wing, primary-coverts, and quills blackish, washed externally with glossy 

 green like tbe back; tail-feathers blackish, slightly washed with green; lores velvety black; 

 cheeks, ear-coverts, and entire under surface of body glossy bottle-green like the upper surface ; 

 axillaries and under wing-coverts smoky brown with a slight greenish wash ; quills dusky brown 

 below. Total length 6*9 inches, culmen 0-25, wing 3'85, tail 4*1, tarsus 0-35. 



Adult female. Similar in colour to the male, but smaller, and having the outer edge of the first primary 

 smooth, not serrated. Total length 5'1 inches, culmeu 0-25, wing 3'45, tail 3, tarsus 0-35. 



Young. Sooty brown with a greenish wash on the back ; below dull sooty brown ; gape yellow. 



Hab. Gold Coast, West Africa. 



This is the West-African representative of Psalidoprocne holomela?na, with which 

 species we at one time united it. Subsequent study, however, with a larger series of 

 specimens, has induced us to alter our previous opinion, and we now believe that the 

 West-African Bottle-green Swallow is distinct from its South-African representative. It 

 is glossy green, instead of being dull bottle-green with a greenish-black mantle, this last 

 character being very marked in Ps. holomelcena. 



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