THE JAPANESE STEIPED SWALLOW. 
305 
289. HIRUNDO JAPONICA. 
THE JAPANESE STEIPED SWALLOW. 
Hirundo japonica, Temm. et Schleg. Faun. Jap. Aves, p. 34, t, xi. ; Hume, S. F. v. 
p. 260. Cecropis japonica, Swinh. P. Z. 8. 1871, p. 346. Cecropis striolata 
{Temm.), cqmd Wald. in Bl. B. Burm, p. 127 (partim) ; Hume ^ iJav. S. F. vi 
p. 44. 
Description. — Male and female. Forehead,, crown^ back^ scapulars and 
lesser wing-coverts glossy steel-black ; lores ashy ; a spot in front of the eye 
black ; a very narrow supercilium and a broad patch behind and above the 
ear-coverts chestnut; these patches na^Towly and interruptedly connected 
over the nape. Ear-coverts^ cheeks and whole lower plumage white, with 
a tinge of rufous, and broadly streaked everywhere with dark brown ; rump 
chestnut, the shafts of the feathers conspicuously black ; upper tail-coverts 
black ; under tail-coverts white at base, black at the end, the black portion 
being about an inch in length ; greater wing-coverts, wings and tail black 
with a bluish gloss. 
Length about 7 inches ; tail 4'1, forked to the extent of 2 2 ; wing 4*7; 
tarsus '6; bill from gape '55. 
This Swallow may be recognized by the combination of the following 
characters : — the rump-band is about I'l inch long, with distinct black 
shafts ; the stripes on the lower plumage are very broad, almost as broad 
as the tarsus is thick ; the under tail-coverts are black for a length of about 
one inch ; the wing is 4*7 inches long; the patch on the side of the head 
is bright chestnut ; and the collar on the nape is interrupted, consisting 
merely of a few rufous streaks. 
A specimen shot by Capt. Wardlaw Eamsay on the Karin hills east of 
Tonghoo is referable to this species. I have seen no other example from 
Burmah. There are skins in the British Museum and in the Seebohm col- 
lection from Chefoo, Amoy and Formosa in China, shot from February to 
May, and there is also one skin from the island of Flores. It also occurs 
in Japan, from which country it was first described. This species and 
others of this section of Swallows have been so confounded together by 
various authors that it is impossible to give their geographical distribution 
without an actual examination of skins. 
Messrs. Blakiston and Pryer in their ^ Catalogue of the Birds of Japan 
admit only one species of Striped Swallow, and enter it under the name of 
Cecropis erythropygia. There can be little doubt that the species intended 
is H. japonica. They state that it builds a long bottle-shaped nest under 
the eaves of buildings, and that the eggs are six in number and white. 
VOL. I. 
X 
