HIEUNDO JAVANICA*. 
(THE BUNGALOW-SWALLOW.) 
Hinindo jamnica, Sparrm. Mus. Carls, fasc. iv. 1. 100, “Java ” (1789); Bourdillon, Str. Feath. 
1876, p. 374; Fail-bank, ibid. 1877, p. 392; Tvveeddale, Ibis, 1877, p. 316. 
Ilirimdo domicola, Jerdon, Cat. B. S. India, Madr. Journ. 1874, xiii. p. 173; Blyth, Cat. B. 
Mus. A. S. B. p. 198 (1849); Kelaart, Prodromus, Cat. p. 118 (1852); Layard, Ann. 
& Mag. Nat. Hist. 1853, xii. p. 170 ; Horsf. & Moore, Cat. B. Mus. E. I. Co. i. p. 384 
(1854) ; Jerdon, B. of Ind. i. p. 158 (1862) ; Blyth, Ibis, 1866, p. 336 ; Gould, B. ot 
Asia, pt. XX. pi. 13 (1868) ; Jerdon, Ibis, 1871, p. 351 ; Holdsw. P. Z. S. 1872, p. 418 ; 
Morgan, Ibis, 1875, p. 313. 
Hypurolepsis domicola, Hume, Nests and Eggs, p. 73 (1873); id. Str. Featb. 1874, p. 155. 
The Nilgherry House-Swallow, Jerdon, B. of India ; The Hill-Swallow in Ceylon. 
Wcelicelaniya, Sinhalese. 
Adult male and female. Length 4-9 to 5-0 inches ; wing 4-0 to 4-1 ; tail 1-8 ; tarsus 0-35 ; middle toe and claw 0-4 to 
0-5; bill to gape 0-47 to 0'51 ; wings exceeding the tail b)' 0-5 when closed. 
Tail short and slightly forked. 
Iris deep bromi ; bill blackish, base of lower mandible reddish ; legs and feet brown, the edges of the tarsal scales 
whitish ; claws black. 
Head, upper surface, scapulars, and lesser wdng-coverts glossy greenish black ; mugs and tail black, with a slight 
greenish gloss ; the upper tertials tipped white ; a bar-shaped white spot on the inner w-ebs of all the rectrices 
but the middle pair ; lores and ear-coverts black ; forehead, chin, throat, and chest ferruginous, darker on the 
forehead than beneath ; under surface cinereous brown, paling to whitish down the centre of the breast, the 
adjacent feathers being tipped whitish ; under tail-coverts black, tipped white, the longer feathers glossed with 
greenish. 
Yountj. The nestling when fledged does not differ much from the adult, its chief characteristic being the nnglossed 
upper surface. The forehead is edged with pale rufous, the tertials the same ; tail with the spots smaller than 
in the adult, and the rufous of the throat not so dark, paling to rufescent white on the breast; under tail-coverts 
tipped with rufescent. 
06s. The Swallow of the Nilghiris, with which the Ceylonese bird is identical, w as described by Jerdon as H. domicola, 
but it has of late years been found that the Malayan species, H.javanica, cannot be separated from it. Lord 
Tweeddale (‘ Ibis,’ 1877, p. 316), in speaking of a Lampong (south-east Sumatra) specimen, says, “Heilgherry 
examples (ff. domicola, Jerdon) cannot he separated.” Messrs. Hume and Davison likewise consider the 
Tenasserim birds identical with South-Indian. Jerdon, in commenting on G-ould’s pilate (‘ Birds of Asia,’ pt. xx.) 
of II. domicola, remarks that it appears to be very close to the true H. javanica, but that is said to be a good deal 
larger bird. As regards this, I have compared the Ceylonese race with specimens from Sumatra, Sarawak, Bouru, 
Lombok, Sula Islands, East Timor, West Java, Labuan, Penang, and find that the balance is slightly in favour 
of the e.astern race. A Sarawak example measures 4'2 inches in the wing ; a Bouru 4-35 ; a West- Javan 4-2 : 
but others do not exceed my specimens ; one from Timor has a wing of 4-0 only, two from Penang 4-15. ^ I observe, 
how-ever, that all these examples, except those from Labuan and Lombok, are conspicuous for the bluer tinge of the 
upper plumage, the two exceptions mentioned being green, like the Ceylonese, all of wliich present the same 
character. The outer tail-feathers also are more pointed than those of my specimens, the under tail-coverts are 
not so dark, and the rufous on the eai’-coverts is brighter. I have not had the advantage of comparing my birds 
with a South-Indian series, and I therefore state these facts, as they may be of use to those who wish to investigate 
the matter. In any case this could only be looked upon as an interesting local variation of no importance. 
* This Swallow has been placed in the subgenus Hypurolepsis, as differing from true Ilirundo in its shorter and 
subfurcate tail. 
