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Show 290 MR. R. B. SHARPE ON ETHIOPIAN HIRUNDINID/E. [May 12, Specimens 1 to 4 are in the Leyden Museum ; and I am glad to see that no. 3, which has been more' recently received than Temminck's types, has been labelled by Professor Schlegel H. holomelcena. This shows that he holds the same opinion as myself; for if Psalidoprocne obscura were a distinct species from Ps. holomelcena, the bird sent by Governor Nagtlas from Elmina would belong to the former species, as it is absolutely identical in coloration with the type-that is to say, is more dusky underneath than ordinary adult Ps. holomelcena. Colonel Grant, in his 'Walk across Africa' (p. 127), speaks of a Swallow having been observed, all black in colour, which Drs. Finsch and Hartlaub, in their new work on East-African Ornithology, suggest may possibly have been Ps. obscura. Dr. Th. von Heuglin, in his 'Ornithologie Nord-Ost Afrika's' (p. 148), goes further and includes it (with a query) as a species occurring within his limits, but on no other authority than the quotation from Colonel Grant's work. I cannot see that there is any good reason for supposing that this was the bird observed; aud it is just as likely to have been a sex of Ps. albiceps. 2. PSALIDOPROCNE PRISTOPTERA. Hirundo pristoptera, Riipp. N . Wirb. t. 39. fig. 2 (1835, descr. orig.). Atticora pristoptera, Gray, Gen. of B. i. p. 58 (1845); id. Cat. Fiss. Brit. Mus. p. 21 (1848); Bonap. Consp. Geu. Av. i. p. 337 (1850) ; Miill. Journ. f. Orn. 1855, p. 4 ; Heugl. Journ. f. Orn. 1861, p. 420, et 1863, p. 4; Brehm, Reise nach Habesch, p. 208 (1863). Chelidon pristoptera, Riipp. Syst. Uebers. p. 22 (1845). Chelidon^.) pristoptera, Heugl. Syst. Uebers. p. 17 (1856). Psalidoprocne pristoptera, Sclater, P. Z. S. 1864, p. 109 ; Heugl. Orn. N.-O. Afr. p. 148 (1869) ; Blanf. Geol. & Zool. Abyss, p. 349 (1870). "Atticora albiscapulata, Riipp.," Boie, Isis, 1844, p. 1/2. Atticora albiscapulata, Gray, Hand-1. of B. i. p. 73 (1869). Pristoptera typica, Bonap. Rivist. Contemp. Torin. 1857, p. 4. Above glossy blue-black, with a greenish tinge on the wings and tail; quills greenish black, the inner web dusky ; tail much forked, greenish black above, dusky underneath ; under surface of the body glossy blue-black ; under wing-coverts white. Total length 5*5 inches; of bill from front 0-2, from gape 0*4; wing 4*4; tail 3*0; tarsus 0*35, middle toe 0*4, hind toe 0 2 , lateral toes 0*25. Hab. North-eastern Africa ; Galla Country, Central and Northern Abyssinia to 17° N. (Heuglin) ; Dongolo, Tigre* (Blanford). According to Von Heuglin, this species is a migratory bird in Abyssinia, and appears about the end of April or the beginning of May in the localities above given. It lives in pairs in the rocky parts of the country from 4000 to 10,000 feet above the sea, breeds about the beginning of July in holes in the rocks, and lays two white eggs. It has two broods a year. Von Heuglin (I. c.) also gives some more, very interesting details respecting its habits. |
