HIRUNDO HYPERYTHRA*. 



(THE CEYLON SWALLOW.) 



(Peculiar to Ceylon.) 



Hirundo hyperythra (Layard), Blyth, J. A. S. B. 1849, xviii. p. 814 ; id. Cat. B. Mus. A. S. B. 



p. 198 (1849); Kelaart, Prodromus, Cat. p. 118 (1852); Layard, Ann. & Mag. Nat. 



Hist. 1853, xii. p. 170; Blyth, Ibis, 18G7, p. 306 ; Gould, B. of Asia, pt. xx. (1868) ; 



Holdsw. P. Z. S. 1872, p. 419 ; Legge, Ibis, 1871, p. 13, et 1875, p. 280. 

 Cecropis hyjjerythra, Jerdon, Ibis, 1871, p. 352; Hume, Str. Feath. 1877, p. 266. 

 The Bed-bellied Swallow, Kelaart ; The Bed-breasted Swallow. 

 Wa ha laniya, Sinhalese. 



' ad. supra purpuraseenti-niger, interscapulio paullo fulvo vario, plumis basaliter et marginaliter fulvis : uropygio 

 bete castaneo : alis caudaque cum supracaudalibus purpurascenti-nigris : loris pileo eoneoloribus, infra castaneo 

 variis : facie laterali et regione parotica saturate castaneis, plumis obscure purpurascenti striatis : corpore subtus 

 castaneo, gutture et peetore angustissime nigro striolatis : subcaudalibus longioribus, purpurascenti-nigris : sub- 

 alaribus pectori concoloribus : rostro nigro : pedibus vinascenti-brunueis : iride brunnea. 



A.luh ni'il. null female. Length 6-5 to 6-8 incbes ; wing 4 - 6 to 4'9 ; tail 34 to 3 - 3, centre feathers 1-4 shorter thau 

 the external : tarsus 0-5 to 0-6 ; middle toe and claw 06 ; bill to gape 0-6. 



Iris sepia-brown ; bill deep brown, iu some blackish, base of lower mandible reddish ; legs and feet vinous brown. 



Head, hind neck, back, scapulars, wing-coverts, and longer upper tail-coverts glossy blue-black; the bases of the 

 feathers of the back bright buff ; wings and tail dull black, glossy near the tips of the feathers ; the inner margins 

 of the primaries brown; entire under surface, including the sides of the neck and a band from | to f inch wide 

 across the rump, light, glossy, chestnut-red, each feather, except on the belly, vent, and rump, with a plainly defim <l 

 black shaft-streak ; the ear-coverts with a broader but less plainly defined blackish-brown shaft-stripe, and their 

 bases black'; lower portion of loral region obscure chestnut ; longer under tail-coverts blue-black; under wing- 

 coverts paler chestnut than the breast, bases of the feathers along the edge of the wing black ; shafts of primaries 

 whitish beneath, brown above. 



Young. Immature bn-ds have the hue of the under surface paler than adults, and the shaft-streaks not so clear. 



This Swallow , for years after its discovery in the island, was considered peculiar to it. The late Lord Tweeddale 

 received a red-bellied Swallow from Malacca, which he considered identical with ours ; and consequently H. Jiype- 

 rythra became a Malaeean bird, and, as such, appears in Mr. Hoklsworth's excellent catalogue. Mr. Hume has, 

 however, Lately obtained Malaeean specimens, and finds that the peninsular bird is much larger, "wing 5-55 

 against 4-75 to 5'0" (my largest specimen measures 4-9), has a proportionately smaller bill, the chestnut rump- 

 band much wider ( 1*2 against 0*8), and the shafts of the earlier primaries black instead of brown ; the colouring of 

 the underparts ami the rump-band is likewise deeper than in our bird. I have examined a specimen in the British 

 Museum, and it is clearly a good subspecies or local race of H. hyperythra. The upper surface is much more brilliant, 

 and the deep chestnut underparts, which are devoid of stri;e, are at once noticeable. Mr. Hume has named it 

 //. arehetes (Str. Feath. 1S77, p. 266), but it was previously named //. badia by Cassin (Gray, Hand-1. B. i. p. 69). 



Distribution. — This fine Swallow was discovered by Layard, who met with it in 1849 near Ambepussa. 

 •It is widely distributed throughout all the low country, with the exception of the extreme north, where I have 



- This Swallow is often placed under the subgenus Cecropis (Boie), which was established for the reception of 

 certain species which have the underparts streaked and often rufous, as well as the head or rump, or both. I shall, 

 however, retain all the Swallows under the one genus, and point out the characters upou which the different subgenera 

 have been founded. These have either reference to plumage or to shape of tail — the first not always, in my opinion, of 

 generic worth ; and the latter a character of but little value in the Swallows, for it is unaccompanied by any corre- 

 sponding structural variation, such as shape of bill or wing. 



