780 Additions to the Ornithology of Nepal. [Dec. 



than in Cypselus, with the hind one distinctly versatile. Talons 

 strong and scansorial ; 8^ inches from tip of bill to tip of tail, and 20 

 inches between the wings. Weight 4± oz. Tarsus \\, central toe S V 

 Colour, head as far as the eyes and ears (inclusive), dorsal neck, 

 sides, rump, upper tail coverts, wings and tail, dusky-black with a 

 changeable blue or green gloss : chin, throat, and most part of the 

 neck in front, confluently white : bottom of the neck, on the anteal 

 surface, breast, and body below, sooty brown : vent, inferior tail- 

 coverts, and a lateral stripe from the thighs, backwards to them, 

 white, more or less picked out with blue glossed black : back and 

 scapulars, whitey-brown : inner web of the last tertiaries, pure 

 white : legs purpurescent dusky : bill black : iris dark-brown : sexes 

 alike. The young want the blue or green gloss of maturity : the clear 

 whitey-brown of the back and pure sooty brown of the belly are in 

 them blended into an uniform dusky hue ; and their throat is of a very 

 sordid white. 



Remark. This singular species, by the structure of its feet, opens 

 a passage from Hirundo to Cypselus. Though variously allied to Pelas- 

 gia, Acuta, Caudacuta, and Gigantea, it exhibits, I believe, a distinct 

 tvpe of form — being certainly not a Chcetura as denned by Stevens, 

 nor a Cypselus of Illiger ; far less a swallow. It climbs with great 

 power aided equally by its talons and its tail. Its habitat is the 

 northern region, whence it sometimes wanders into the mountains of 

 the central, avoiding however the open and level country. I have 

 set it down in my note book as the type of a new genus, called Hi- 

 rund-apus. 



Species 2nd. Cypselus Nipalensis, nobis. 



Sooty black, glossed with green : chin, throat, and top of the neck 

 in front, confluently white : a white bar across the rump : talons and 

 bill, black : iris brown : nude part of toes, dusky-grey. Size small ; 

 5^ by 12^ inches ; and barely one oz. in weight : sexes alike : struc- 

 ture typical : tail, short and even. 



Remark. This is the common Swift of the central region, where it 

 remains all the year, building under thatched roofs, and against the 

 beams of flat roofs. It lays two white eggs and breeds repeatedly. 



Genus Hirundo. Species 1st. Nipalensis, nobis. 



Cap, back, scapulars and wing-coverts, brilliant deep blue : quills, 

 tail feathers, and the longer tail coverts above and below, dusky : a 

 narrow frontal zone, cheeks, neck, and body below, as well as the 

 rump and lesser tail coverts above, rusty ; paler and striped with 

 narrow lines of dusky hue on the whole abdominal surface : dorsal 



