CYPSELUS AFFINIS. 



(THE INDIAN SWIFT.) 



Cypselus affinis, J. E. Gray, 111. Ind. Zool. i. pi. 35. fig. 2 (1832) ; Sykes, P. Z. S. 1832, 

 p. 83 ; Jerdon, Cat. B. S. India, Madr. Journ. 1840, xi. p. 235. no. 255 ; Blyth, Cat. 

 B. Mus. A. S. B. p. 86 (1849); Kelaart, Prodromus, Cat. p. 117 (1852) ; Layard, Ann. 

 & Mag. Nat. Hist. 1853, xii. p. 167 ; Horsf. & Moore, Cat. B. Mus. E. I. Co. p. 106 

 (1854); Jerdon, B. of Ind. i. p. 177 (1862); Sclater, Ibis, 1865, p. 235; id. P. Z. S. 

 1865, p. 603; Blyth, Ibis, 1866, p. 339; Holdsworth, P. Z. S. 1872, p. 419; Hume, 

 Str. Feath. 1873, p. 166 ; Ball, Str. Feath. 1873, p. 370; Hume, Nests and Eggs, i. 

 p. 85 (1873) ; Dresser, B. of Eur. pt. 33 (1874) ; Aitken, Str. Feath. 1875, p. 214. 



Cypselus nipalensis, Hodgs. J. A. S. B. v. p. 780 (1836). 



C. galilejensis, Antinori, Cat. Collez. di Uccelli, p. 24 (1864). 



C. galilceensis, Tristram, Ibis, 1865, p. 76. 



C. abyssinicus, Streubel, Isis, 1848, p. 354. 



The Allied Swift, Gray ; White-rump ed Swift, Jerdon. 



Ababil or Babila, Hind. ; Uuwa bil-bil, Natives at Saharunpore (Jerdon). 



Wcehcelaniya, Lce?iiya, Sinhalese. 



Adult male and female. Length 5-1 to 5-5 inches ; wing 5-1 to 5-3 ; tail 1-8 ; tarsus 0-4 ; mid toe and claw 0*5 ; bill 

 to gape 065 to 0-7. 



In this species the tail is short, slightly forked, but the feathers not pointed. 



Iris deep brown ; bill black ; feet vinous-brown, claws black. 



Head, hind neck, wings, and tail blackish brown, with a slight greenish lustre, and the forehead paler than the crown -, 

 back and scapulars glossy green-black, blending into the hue of the hind neck ; primaries pale on the inner webs, 

 the tertials and the feathers along the metacarpal joint with fine light edges ; rump and its sides, with the chin 

 and centre of the throat, white, some of the feathers of the former region generally with dark shafts ; under surface 

 glossy black, paler on the under tail-coverts ; under wing brownish black. 



Young. Immature birds have the feathers of the under wing-coverts margined with whitish, and the rump more 

 lineated than in the adult ; the breast and lower parts are likewise more or less finely edged with whitish. 



Obs. This Swift varies considerably in size in different portions of its habitat. In India Mr. Hume has found it 

 varying in the wing from 4-8 to 5-5 inches ; and Dr. Finsch gives the wing of specimens from the Blue Nile as 

 high as 5-6 inches ; he likewise remarks that a more or less visible superciliary stripe is occasionally visible. 1 

 have found the amount of white on the throat to be variable in some examples ; it does not quite extend to the 

 chin ; probably such are mature birds. 



Distribution. — The common Indian Swift is not migratory to Ceylon, as was supposed by Layard, but is 

 merely a wanderer throughout the low country, its movements appearing to be regulated by the weather and 

 monsoon winds. In the south-west of the island I have noticed it at the seaside only during the first three 

 months of the year, although I have seen it in the hilly parts of the interior during the S.W. monsoon, at 

 which season Mr. Parker, of the Ceylon Public Works Department, has observed it at Puttalam. In the 

 north-east I have seen it at both seasons of the year, but am of opinion that it is no more than a straggler 

 over that flat region, traversing it in the course of a day's wandering from its head-quarters in the hills. In 

 the Kandyan Province it is a common bird and a permanent resident there. It appears to prefer the dry 

 climate of Uva to other parts, although I have noticed it in most of the coffee-districts. It is sometimes 



