J.ùmdd/k KGBlcfuer, d A et/ hàu
CECROPIS 1
Walter imp.
CECROPIS HYPERYTHRA.
Ceylonese Mosque-Swallow.
Hirundo hyperythra, Layard, Blyth, Journ. Asiat. Soc. Beng., vol. xviii. p. 814.—Id. Cat. of Birds in Mus. Asiat.
Soc. Calcutta, p. 198.—Layard in Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist., sec. ser. vol. xii. 1853, p. 170.—Blyth,
Ibis, 1867, p. 306.
H owever closely allied the Cecropis rufula, C. Daurica, and C. erythropygia may be, the present bird possesses
some very tangible specific characters by which it may at once be distinguished from either of them. The
most prominent of these are the absence of the rufous superciliary stripe and nuchal band, the deep ferruginous
chestnut hue of the entire under surface and rump, and the striae which pervade the breasts of all
the Mosque-Swallows being in this instance exceedingly narrow and hair-like. That a bird with such
distinguishing characters should be tolerably common in Ceylon, and yet never be found in the contiguous
parts of India, would excite extreme surprise, did we not find similar instances to occur in other countries:
thus the fact that the Crested Lark, so common at Calais, is scarcely ever seen at Dover, and vice versa with
regard to the Common Wagtail, may be cited as cases in poiut. So far as we yet know, the C. hyperythra is
stationary, while, on the other hand, it is well ascertained that at least two or three other Asiatic species are
strictly migratory. It would be as much out of place to go into the subject o f migration in the present paper,
as it would be impossible to divine why the C. Daurica is a summer visitant only in Northern China, and the
C. rufula in the Holy Land, why the intermediate species C. erythropygia never leaves India, or the present
species the beautiful island in which it is found; we may speculate upon these points, but we shall be unable
to prove anything respecting them.
I regret to say that the following brief notes from the pens of Mr. E. L. Layard and Mr. Blyth comprise
all the information respecting this species.
“ I first discovered this species,” says the former gentleman, “ In November 1849, at Ambepusse, on the
road to Kandy. I have since seen it at Putlam, up the central road as far as the hills extend, at Ambegamoa,
and up the Caltura river from Perth sugar-estate to Ratnapoora and Adam’s Peak. It breeds in caverns
and under bridges, and builds a nest of mud attached to the roof. The general shape and size is that of a
small basin, with a round entrance-hole at the top. The lining is composed of fine hay and feathers; and
the eggs are laid in March. The late Dr. Gardner informed me that a pair built, their nest on a ring supporting
a hanging lamp nightly used in his sitting-room. They securely hatched their eggs, unscared by
the cleaning or lighting of the lamp; and the young birds returned to the nest every night for about a month
after being fully fledged.”
Mr. Blyth remarks that this species resembles C. erythropygia, but has the entire under parts and the ear-
coverts of the same deep ferruginous hue as the rump, which is deeper in tint than that of C. erythropygia;
the mesial streaks of the feathers of the lower parts are also less developed. It is permanently resident in
the mountainous parts of the island of Ceylon.
It seems probable that this is the only species of the genus Cecropis found in Ceylon; but a second may
occasionally occur there; for Mr. Layard mentions, under the head of Hirundo Daurica, that he found one
of these birds in the village of St. Pedro, in December, which had probably been driven over from the opposite
coast by stress of weather, and was hawking about the street. He fired at and wounded it, but it flew
away. The next day it appeared again in the same place, when he succeeded in killing it, and found that
the shot of the previous day had broken one of its legs. I have no doubt that this was not a C. Daurica,
as Mr. Layard supposes, but a C. erythropygia.
Head, neck, back, wing-coverts, and upper and tips of the under tail-coverts deep steel-blue; wings
and tail brownish black, glossed with steel-blue; throat, under surface of the body, axillaries, and under
wing-coverts deep chestnut, with a very fine hair-like line of dark brown down the centre of each feather;
rump deep chestnut, without striie; under tail-coverts bluish black; bill black; feet brownish black.
The Plate represents the two sexes, of the natural size.