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■ C H E L I D O N C A S H M I R I E N S I S , G o u h i .
C A S i n iE E E M A E T IX .
CHELIDON CASHMIRIENSIS
C h e lid o n ca shm e r ien s is , G o u ld , P . Z. S. 1 8 5 8 , 3 5G ; A d am s , t. c. p. 191 : J e i’d. B.
I n d . i. p. 1G7 (1 8 0 2 ) ; Sw in li. I b is , 1SG3, p . 9 0 ; G r a y , Ua iid-1. B . i. p . 71, u o . 8 81
(1 8C 9 ); J e r d . I b is , 1 8 7 1 , p . 3 5 3 ; I lu m e , N e s ts a n d E g g s In d . B . p. 81 (1 8 7 3 ) ;
Sw iiih . I b i s , 1 8 7 1 , p. l o 2 ; D r e s s e r, B . E u r . iii. p . 1 9 8 ( 1 8 7 5 ) ; B ro o k s , S tr . P .
1 8 7 5 , p . 2 3 1 ; P rje v . in R ow le y ’s O rn . Alisc. ii. p . 1G3 (1 8 7 7 ) ; D a v id & O u s t.
Ois. C h in e , p . 5 3 9 (1 8 7 7 ) ; l l u m c , S tr . P . 1 8 7 9 , p. 84 ; B id d u lp li, Ib is , 1 8 8 1 , p . 17,
1 8 8 2 , p . 209.
C h e lid o n e a shm ir ie n s is , S h a rp e , C a t. B ird s in B r i t . AIus. x . p . 90 (1 8 8 5 ) ; G ig l. Avif.
I t a l . p . 1 87 (1 8 8G ); S a lv ad . E le n c h . TJcc. I t a l . p. 81 (1887).
C h e lid om ir h ic a [n o ix lj.). B a ll, S tr . P . 1 8 7 8 , v o l. ii. p . 2 0 2 ; B u tl e r , S tr . P . 18S0,
p. 3 7 8 .
I l i r u n d o c a shm ir ie n s is , S e eb o hm , H i s t . B r i t . B . iii. p . 1 79 (1SS3).
C. similis C. vrbicm, sed minor, subtiis inagis fusccsceiitior et canda minus furcata distinguenda.
Hab. in nioiitibus Himalayensibus usque ad montes Kansuenscs.
Adult male. General colour above deep biue-black, the liind neck and mantle varied with white bases ;
rump wliite tinged with smoky brown, and with faint dusky shaft-Hnes ; wing-coverts brownish
black, slightly ivashcd with blue-black ou the mai-gins ; quills dusky hlackisii, the innermost
secondaries narrowly tipped with white; upper tail-coverts smoky white, with dusky shaft-lincs,
the long ones dull blue-black; tail-feathers blackish; crown of head like the back ; lores blackish ;
ear-covcrts and checks white, the upper edge of the former dusky blackish ; under surface of the
body dull whitish; throat, fore neck, aud chest washed with smoky brown, a little darker ou the
flanks; thighs white; under tail-covcrts white, with pale smoky-brown bases and with dusky
shaft-lines; under wing-covcrts and axillaries darker smoky brown, the outer small coverts edged
with whitish ; quills below dusky brown, inner edge of quills p a le r; iris brown. Total length 5
inches, culmeii 0'3, wing -I, tail 2'2, tarsus 0'5.
Adult female. Like the male in colour. Total length -1--5 inches, wing 3-85, tail V7'o, tarsus 0-5.
Obs. Colonel Biddulpli (Ibis, 1882, p. 2G9) in writing of the differences between Chelidon urbica and
the present species speaks of tbe former bird a-s being pure white below, whereas C. caakmiriensi.'i
is “ dusky beneath, with dnsky mesial centres to the feathers of tlic abdomen, flanks, aud rmup.”
The dusky coloration of the underparts cannot be regarded as a specific character, us old
birds of C. urbica in worn plumage often partake of a dingy appearance on the undcrparts, while
the young birds always have the throat washed with smoky brown. As regards tlie distinctness
of the sliaft-lines on the rump and uudcr tail-coverts, great variation takes place in both species ;
sometimes it is very distinct, at other times scarcely perceptible; and it is quite as much a character
of C. urbica as of C. cashmiriensis.
Chelidon cashmiriensis is extremely closely allied to C. dasypus, and positively only differs