NEEDLE-TAILED SWIFT. 303 



CHiETURA CAUDACUTA. 

 NEEDLE-TAILED SWIFT. 



Hirundo caudacuta, Lath. Ind. Orn., Suppl. p. 1-vii (1801) ; et auctorum pluri- 

 moTXim — ^Radde), (SchrencK), (Jerdon), {Swinhoe), (David 8f Oustaht), 

 {Dresser), {Newton), &c. 



Hirundo fusca, Steph. Shaw's Oen. Zool. x, p. 133 (1817). 



Chastura australis, Steph. Shaw's Gen. Zool. xiii. pt. 2, p. 76 (1825). 



Ohsetura fusca {Steph.), Steph. Shaw's Oen. Zool. xiii. pt. 2, p. 76 (1825). 



Hirundo ciris, Pall. Zoogr. JRosso-Asiat. i. p. 641 (1826). 



Acanthylis spinicauda {Temm.),Jide Boie, Isis, 1826, p. 971. 



OliSBtura macroptera, Swains. Zool. III. ser. 2, i. pi. 42 (1829). 



Ohsetura nudipes, Hodgs. Jown. As. Soc. Beiig. v. p. 779 (1836). 



BGrundapus nudipes {Hodgs.), Sodgs. Journ. As. Soc. Beng. v. p. 780 (1836). 



Pallene giganteus, Temm.,fide Less. Compl. Buff. viii. p. 493 (1837). 



Oypselus leuconotus, Delessert, Mag. Zool. 1840, Ois. pi. 20. 



Acanthylis caudacuta {Lath.), Gray, Ann. Nat. Hist. xi. p. 194 (1843). 



Pallene macroptera {Swains.), \ 



Pallene caudacuta {Lath.), \ Boie, Isis, 1844, p. 168. 



Pallene leuconotus {Deless.), ) 



Acanthylis nudipes {Hodgs.), Ch-ay, Gen. B. i. p. 55 (1845). 



Hemiprocne leuconotus (Deless.), Struehel, Isis, 1848, p. 362. 



Chsetura caudacuta (Lath.), Gould, Handb. B. Austr. i. p. 103 (1865). 



The Needle-tailed Swift, or White-throated Spine-tail, was first described 

 by Latham in 1801 from examples obtained in Australia, whither they had 

 gone to spend the winter ; but it had previously been discovered by Steller 

 in its breeding-quarters near Irkutsk (Pall. Zoogr. Rosso-Asiat. i. p. 541). 

 It has been obtained twice in the British Islands. The first example was 

 shot at Great Horkesley, near Colchester, on the 8th of July, 1846, and 

 was examined in the flesh by Newman, Doubleday, Yarrell, and other 

 ornithologists (Catchpool, ' Zoologist,' 1846, p. 1493) . The second example 

 was shot near Ringwood in Hampshire in July 1879, and was exhibited 

 at a meeting of the Zoological Society of London on the 6th of January, 

 1880, when I had an opportimity of examining it (Corbin, 'Zoologist,' 

 1880, p. 81, pi. i.). Mr. Corbin writes : — " On the evening of July 37th 

 I saw two strange birds flying about over the river in company with 

 Swifts ; but they kept a long way off, so that I could see -nothing very 

 peculiar about them, except that they appeared to be larger than the rest 

 of the company, and their flight, although resembling that of their fellows^ 

 was somewhat different. My curiosity was awakened, and the next evening 

 I was at the same place watching for the strangers, but the dull cold 



