THE AUSTRALIAN SWALLOW 267 



with an incomplete purplish-blue collar on the foreneck, rest of under- 

 surface white; bill black, feet brown, iris black. Total length 6.7 inches, 

 culmen .35, wing 4.6, tail 3.4, tarsus .5. 



The Eastern Swallow. 



Hirundo javanica. 

 Above dull steel blue, mottled with white bases to the plumes of the 

 hind neck; wing-coverts, quills of wing and tail black; tail-feathers, 

 except central, with an oval white spot on the inner web; a broad frontal 

 band, cheeks, throat, foreneck and most of the ear-coverts brick red, 

 rest of under-surf aee ashy brown. Total length 5.1 inches, culmen A, wing 

 4.15, tail 2.15, tarsus .35. 



The Australian Swallow. 



Hirundo neoxena. 

 Resembles preceding generally, but the ear-coverts are glossy blue 

 like the back, and the breast and especially the abdomen are lighter in 

 colour, the latter being inclined to ashy white. Total length 5.8 inches. 



The Swallow performs a general migration avoiding the 

 extremes of heat and cold. Thns it appears in Tasmania in 

 September and leaves in March. A few will pass the whole 

 winter about Sydney, but the majority go north for a couple 

 of the coldest months. In the summer they appear in great 

 numbers, and are active for the greater part of the day, 

 hawking insects in graceful curves, skimming close to the ground 

 in duller days, and more aloft on bright. They are indifferent 

 to the proximity of man, circling round a cricket ground for 

 instance, while a match is being played, so that often on a late 

 afternoon when the light is weak a bird has been mistaken for 

 the ball by the field, and has confused the batsmen. The nests 

 are placed in deep clefts of rocks or in dark caverns in country 

 unoccupied by the white man, but since his advent the bird has 

 chosen sites similar to those selected by the European Swallow, 

 building under verandahs or eaves, in barns and outhouses, 

 less frequently in the chimney. The well-known nest is made of 

 mud or clay, intermingled with straw or grass to bind it; is 

 open at the top, and lined first with a layer of fine grass and 

 then with feathers. The shape varies according as the nest is 

 built in a corner, or against a wall, but is always rounded on 

 the free rim. The eggs, usually four, are rather long, pinkj^- 

 white with many fine spots of purplish-brown, .75 x .5 inch. 

 The note is a pleasant twittering. 



