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Show 1870.] MR. R. B. SHARPE ON ETHIOPIAN HIRUNDINIDEE. 291 The description aud measurements are taken from an adult specimen kindly lent me by Mr. Blanford. He shot it himself on the 15th of .May, 1868, at Dongolo in the province of Tigre', at an elevation of 6500 feet. He also informs that he saw it occasionally in the highlands of Abyssinia and also in the Anseba valley, but never below 4000 feet elevation. 3. PSALIDOPROCNE NITENS. Atticora nitens, Cass. Proc. Acad. Philad. 1857, p. 38 (descr. orig.); Hartl. Orn. Westafr. p. 261 (1857); Cass. Proc. Acad. Philad. 1859, p. 33; Hartl. Journ. f. Orn. 1861, p. 103; Du Chaillu, Equat. Afr. p. 472 (1861). Above glossy greenish black, very bright and distinct both above and below ; quills dark brown, glossed with greenish above, as also is the tail, which is quite square ; bill black ; feet light brown. Total length 4*3 inches, wing 3*8, tail 2*2. Hab. Muni and Ogobai Rivers, Gaboon (Du Chaillu). This is a beautiful little Swallow, of apparently a more robust build than either Ps. holomelcena or Ps. pristoptera, which, by reason of their long forked tails, have a graceful and slender appearance. The plumage of the present species is also much more brilliant and glossy. The description and measurements are from a very fine skin in the British Museum, from West Africa. 4. PSALIDOPROCNE ALBICEPS. Psalidoprocne albiceps, Sclater, P.Z. S. 1864, p. 108, pl. xiv. ; Heugl. Orn. N.-O. Afr. p. 147. Atticora albiceqis, Finsch & Hartl. Orn. Ost-Afr. p. 133 (1869). I am unable to give a detailed description of this beautiful Swallow, as the original specimen, which was preserved in spirit and presented by Dr. Sclater to the British Museum, cannot now be found. The following is Dr. Sclater's original description :- " P. nigra, pileo et gula summa albis. "Long. tot. 5*5, alae 4*2, caudae rectr. ext. 3*1, rectr. med. 2*2 poll. " Capt. Speke has brought home in spirit from Uzinza a single example of this apparently new Swallow of the section Psalidoprocne. It seems to form a third of this little African group, which is distinguished from true Hirundo by its long cleft tail, short tarsi, small feet, and the saw-like margination of the outer edge of the first primary." Colonel Grant has mentioned it in his ' Walk across Africa' (p. 127), and has also very kindly favoured me with a note:- "Extract from my journal dated 'Usui, Central Africa, Oct. 16, 1861. Black Swallow with white forehead and throat under the jaw, with forked tail. Black Swallow, smaller*. Seen together about scarped rocks; at least it was here I first observed them." * This is the bird referred by Von Heuglin to Ps. obscura. I think it just as likely to be the female of Ps. albiceps. |
