6372 



Birds. 



when I succeeded in bringing one down as it came up against the sea- 

 breeze rather more slowly. I have never yet seen them alight any- 

 where. The splendour of the plumage, examined closely, exceeded 

 even my expectations. As my measurements, taken from the^recent 

 specimen, differ in some important particulars from yours, taken, 

 I presume, from the skin, I will venture to send them : — 



" HlRUNDO EUCHRYSEA, Gosse. 



" Irides hazel. Beak black. Legs brownish black (like that of 

 some Indian ink. I could see no purplish tinge). 



" Length 5| inches. Expanse 12 inches. Flexure 4j inches. 

 Tail 2j inches. Wings longer than the tail J inch. Rictus j inch. 



" Intestine 5| inches. Two minute caeca J inch from cloaca. 

 Stomach contained a black mass, fragments of small insects, among 

 which coloured elytra of Coleoptera were conspicuous. 



" The rest of your description I found very accurate ; but you do not 

 notice that the middle and external lateral toes are syndactyle as far 

 as the first joint of middle toes. This struck me as peculiar: Swain- 

 son does not mention it as a general characteristic of the class ; and in 

 the little Hirundo poeciloma, the only one I had at hand (the rest 

 of my collection being despatched to England), though the toes are 

 unequally cleft, there is not the marked disproportion as in Hirundo 

 euchrysea. The tertials too are much more deeply emarginate, 

 characteristics which, with their brilliant colouring, reminded me of 

 the Meropidae of Africa. As far as my observations go, there seems, 

 in one or two points, a similarity between the habits of this swallow 

 and the great swift : neither are constant inhabitants of the limestone 

 valleys midway between the coast and the central ridge; both appear 

 during wet weather in large flocks, not so intent on feeding as 

 apparently going over their hunting-grounds, and afterwards, for some 

 days after the bad weather, hawking in flocks of much reduced 

 numbers, as usual with the family. I mention this, however, with 

 much diffidence, as it requires much more extended observation than 

 mine to place the fact beyond doubt. 



" I have never been able to hear anything that seems worth any 

 credit regarding the nidification of either species. I am meditating a 

 residence close to the Black Grounds, on the central ridge itself, and 

 my arrangements are already completed, so soon as the weather per- 

 mits travelling. I am in hopes of obtaining some particulars while 

 there. 



