10 
BIRDS OF BRITISH BURMAH. 
409. COLLOCALIA LINCHI. 
HORSFIELD^S SWIFTLET. 
Hirundo fuciphaga, apud Horsf. Trans. Linn. Soc. xiii. p. 143. CoUocalia 
linchi, Horsf. ^ Moore, Cat. Birds Mus. E.I. Co. i. p. 100 ; Wallace, P. Z. 8. 
1863, p. 384 ; Hume, S. F. ii. p. 157 ; id. Nests and Eggs, p. 89 ; Salvad. Ucc. 
Born. p. 121 ; Hume 8)" Dav. S. F. vi. p. 49 ; Hume, S. F. viii. p. 85. Col- 
localia af&nis, Tytler, Beavan, Ibis, 1867, p. 318. Collocalia fuciphaga, 
apud Bl. ^ Wald. B. Burm. p. 85. Collocalia francica, apud Legge, Birds 
Ceylon, p. 324. 
Description. — Male and female. Plumage above entirely glossy bronze- 
black ; cliin_, tbroat^ breast^ sides of the head and sides of the body ashy 
brown, each feather obsoletely margined paler ; abdomen and vent white 
streaked with brown ; under tail-coverts dark brown, margined with white; 
wings and tail glossy black. 
Length 4 inches, tail 1*75, wing 4, tarsus *3, bill from gape •4. The 
female is of about the same size. 
Mr. Blyth recorded two species of Swiftlets from Burmah (B. Burm. 
p. 85) . The one which he calls C. fuciphaga he identifies with Mr. Ball's 
bird, which that gentleman describes in the J. A. S. Beng. xli. p. 276, and 
again in ^ Stray Feathers,^ i. p. 55. Although Mr. Ball speaks of an indis- 
tinct white rump-band, no one can entertain any doubt about his birds 
being the true C. linchi. I accordingly enter this species here, more espe- 
cially as it is very abundant in the Andaman Islands, and is consequently 
pretty certain to fly over to the Burmese coast. 
C. esculenta, a bird from Java and the Malay archipelago, is very close 
to C. linchi both in size and coloration ; but it may be known at once by 
its having white spots on the tail-feathers. 
Another section of Swiftlets may be recognized by the rump being pure 
white. None of them are, however, likely to visit Burmah. 
After studying a large series of birds of the genus Collocalia, I am of 
opinion that the plumage is liable to very slight variations only. In the 
adults the coloration is very constant; and the young differ from the 
adults only in being paler. The confusion which has hitherto existed 
among the members of this group appears to be due in great measure to 
the paucity of specimens in European collections. Mr. Hume has 
rendered great service to ornithologists in thoroughly working out the 
Indian members of the group. 
Horsfield^s Swiftlet occurs, according to Mr. Blyth, in Arrakan and 
Tenasserim ; but Mr. Davison did not meet with it during his travels in 
the latter Division. 
It occurs very abundantly both in the Andaman and the Nicobar 
Islands, 
