24957 
THE GEELONG NATURALIST. ti 
this bird is black, and the pupil is enclosed in a horny case 
like that of birds of prey. The skull is very small, most of it 
being occupied. by the eyes. The wings are black, with 
purple and green reflections. ‘Three or four of the feathers 
ofthe wing coverts have their inner webs white, forming a 
'strong contrast to the other parts of the wing. The throat is 
white, and there is a narrow white band on top of the bill. 
The under tail-coverts are snowy white, while the tail itself 
is of the same colour as the wings. The shafts of the tail are 
each carried out about a quarter of an inch free of the webs, 
forming needle points (whence the specific and local names of 
the bird). The back is greyish brown, becoming a little: 
lighter between the shoulders, and the belly is of a dark 
brown. 
'These birds arrive in this district in the summer, and I 
have seen them late in the autumn. Occasionally they visit 
Europe; one was shot in Essex on July oth, 1846, and 
consequently it figures in some works on British birds. The 
bird shot was 74 inches in length, with a spread of wing of 
r9 inches. This is smaller than the specimen I have. -Why 
it should wing its way to so remote a part of the earth is 
beyond our ken. That it can do so we know, for the common 
swallow (Hirundo neoxena) is said to fly more than rooo 
miles in a day, and to keep it up for days in succession. 
Mr. H. Seebohm says that its breeding range extends 
westward from Japan across Northern China to the south 
east of Siberia, and that it spends the northern winter in 
Australia. It is also believed to nest in holes of the rocks in 
- the mountains of India and Burmah. 
