CATALOGUE. 
99 
Collocalia nidifica, G. B. Gray^ Gen. of Birds, I. p. 55; 
Cat. B. Brit. Mus. II. p. 20. Blyth, Gat. B. 3Ius. 
A. S. Bang. p. 86. Bonap., O. G. Av. p. 343. 
Hirundo esculenta, apucl Horsf., Trans. Litm. Soc. XIII. 
p. 142. Bajles, id. p. 315.* 
Hirundo esculenta var. Lath., Hist. Yll. p. 296, 
t. 112. 
Niduli esculenti, Bumph., Herh. Ami. (1750), VI. t. 74, 
f. 3-4 {Jigura nec. descriptio). 
subtus cinereum vel sordide fmcum seu albidum a gvla usque ad basin caudce ; pollices 
circiter quatuor longum. 
" ' Rostrum brevissiinum, depressum, apice incurvum, atrum. 
" ' Cauda rotundata, supi'a infraque atra, tota immaculata, longitudine corporis. 
'Alee atrce, immiaculatoi, acutce, cauda duplo longiores. Pedes nigri, breves. 
" ' Differt ab H. esculenta : cauda tota atra immaculata. 
" ' H. borbonica : thorace et abdomine unicoloribus, absque maculis. 
*' * H. francica : cui si7nillima et cui proxime accedit, quod atra sit, nec 
solum nigricans supra; quodque major et ad aquas Qceani habitans. 
nidos gelatinosos co^istruat.' 
" H. esculenta is especially recognisable by the white specks on the black tail- 
feathers, and the other bird (fucipkaga) wants these spats entirely, the tail-feathers 
being uniform in colour, which is quite black. Both species are black above, and 
dirty white beneath."— (Thunberg, Act. Holm. XXXIII. p. 151 (1772).)~Trans- 
lated from the original Swedish by N. Wallich, Esq., M.D. F.K.S. 
* HIRUNDO ESCULENTA, rectricibus omnibus macula alba notatis, Linn., 
Syst. Nat. ed. 10 (1758), p. 191. Qmel., S. N. L. I. p. 1016.. 
Hirundo nidibus edulibus, Bont., Jav. p. 66. 
Niduli esculenti, Rumph., Herb. Amb. VI. p. 183 {exclus. fig.). 
La Salangane, Buff., H. N. YI. p. 682. 
The other synonyms cited by Linnseus have no authority but that of Bontius. 
At the period of the publication of the tenth edition of the " Systema Naturae," 
the only authority for the specific character of Linnaeus, was that of Rumphius 
above cited : — seque caudce plumce separantur alba conspicitus macula. 
Brisson's Ornithology, which was published in 1760, gives the character of the 
Hirundo ripana cocJiinchinensis : — Hirundo superne nigrica^is, infcrne. albida, rectri' 
cibus nigricantibus, apice albis. This rests entirely on the drawing and description 
of M. Poivre. 
At the present period no authentic specimens of the Hirundo esculenta, aa 
described by Linnseus, as far as has been ascertained, appear to exist in modern 
museums. It requires, therefore, further observations to determine whether the 
H. esculenta described by Linnseus be really a distinct species, or a variety vaguely 
and incorrectly indicated, while the faithfulness of M. Poivre 's drawing is ques- 
tioned by modern Ornithologists, 
Bontius gives no description of the bird. 
