76 BIRDS OF TASMANIA. 



in general ; also Mongolia, Baikal, Amoor, Cachar, Bunnah, Assam, 

 Japan, and China. 



Observations. — The records concerning the visits of this Aus- 

 tralian Swift, as it is sometimes called, are but few. The reason 

 is not far to seek, for it is usually in company with the Spine- 

 tailed species, whose powers of flight are well known. It is almost 

 if not quite a matter of impossibility to distinguish one species from 

 another, unless they are flying low and passing and repassing in 

 front of the observer. The first record I made of the White-rumped 

 Swift was during the autumn of 1902, when a number were seen 

 in company with a large flock of Spine-tails, the whole flying low 

 down. This was late one afternoon. In February, 1896, Colonel 

 Legge observed several examples among a large flock of Swifts 

 " dashing " about the homestead at Cullenswood. 



Sub- Family — Chaeturinae. 



*SPINE-TAILED SWIFT 

 {Chcetura caudacuta, Lath.) 



Male. — Forehead generally wholly white; crown, nape, and 

 sides of the head blackish-brown, with metallic gloss ; back, 

 shoulders, and rump pale brown, lightest in centre of back ; wings 

 and tail black, glossed with greenish and steel blue; inner webs 

 of innermost secondaries mostly white; chin, throat, and under 

 tail coverts white; rest of under surface sooty-brown; lower flanks 

 glossy bluish-black, with white tips ; bill blackish ; legs and feet 

 blaokish-brown. Dimensions in mm.: — Length, 'J00-'202; bill, 

 7.75-78; wing, 195-210; tail, 51-57; tarsus, 14.5-15.' It will be 

 noted from the above measurements that individuals vary some- 

 what considerably in certain parts. 



Female. — Similar to male. 



Young. — Practically no white on forehead ; brownish spots on 

 under tail coverts. 



Nest. — Mr. D. Le Souef {Emu, vol. vii., p. 73) describes the 

 nest, as seen by him under the Kegan Waterfall, in Japan, as 

 being large and made of mud, evidently of two or three colours, 

 and built on a sloping wall of rock well under cover. " The nest 

 is about a foot in depth externally by about 4 inches across on the 

 top; the cup or egg cavity was evidently shallow, as the sitting 

 bird was well exposed." 



Eggs. — So far as I am aware, they are still undescribed. 



Breeding Season. — (?). 



Geographical Distribution. — Tasnaania and Australia; also Mon- 

 golia, Eastern Siberia, China, and Japan. 



Observations. — This projectile of a bird usually first appears in 

 Tasmania about the second week in February, and the last one 

 for the season about the end of March. I have records, however. 



