Characters the same as those given in the key to Suborders.
Bill weak, short, flat, and broad, the edges smooth; a small notch near end of upper mandible; culmen nearly straight, except at tip; nostrils exposed; rictal bristles small and weak; wings long and narrow; primaries nine, the first slightly longer than the second; secondaries very short; tail more or less forked; tarsus and toes slender, moderate in size, usually unfeathered.
Plumage of upper parts black, glossed with blue, bases of the feathers white; a white band across rump; tail nearly square; tarsi and toes thickly clothed with short feathers.
SIBERIAN SWALLOW.52
Calayan (McGregor). Japan; Borneo in winter.
“Adult male (type of species).—General color above dull purplish blue, with white bases to the feathers; wing-coverts and quills blackish with a slight blue gloss; rump and upper tail-coverts pure white, with narrow dusky shaft-lines; the long upper tail-coverts and tail-feathers blackish with a faint blue gloss; tail very slightly forked; head like the back; lores and feathers below the eye black; ear-coverts dull purplish blue, as also the sides of neck and sides of upper breast, the latter slightly mottled with white bases; fore part of cheeks and under surface of body creamy buff, washed with smoky brown on the breast and flanks, with a little purer white on the fore neck and abdomen; under tail-coverts smoky brown, broadly edged with whitish, the long coverts blacker with broad whitish edging; axillars and under wing-coverts dark brown, the small coverts near edge of wing edged with pale smoky brown; quills dull ashy brown below. Length, 117; wing, 104; tail, 26; culmen, 7; tarsus, 12.” (Sharpe.)
Female.—Above blackish brown, slightly glossed with steel-blue, and the feathers with white bases which show through on the neck and back; a white band across rump, some of its feathers with smoky brown shafts and tips; wings and tail blackish brown; lores, subocular line, and ear-coverts smoky brown; under parts white; chin and breast washed with light smoky brown; under tail-coverts smoky brown with darker shafts and white tips. Length, 117; wing, 104; tail, 46; culmen from base, 7; tarsus, 7.
Very little is known concerning the occurrence of the Siberian swallow in the Philippines where it has been found only during migration.
Plumage dull in color, above brownish black or earthy brown; no band across rump and no light spots on the tail which is but slightly forked; tarsi and toes nearly or quite naked.
Calayan (McGregor). Northern America and Asia; Europe, China; in winter to Central and South America, Africa, Indian Peninsula, and Indo-Burmese countries.
Adult.—Lores and crown blackish brown; remainder of upper parts grayish brown, each feather with a light gray fringe; primaries and coverts blackish brown; tail dark brown, its feathers edged with white; under parts white with a distinct dark brown band across the breast. Length, about 115; wing, 96; tail, 45; depth of fork, 7; bill from nostril, 5; tarsus, 9.
“Young birds have all the feathers of the upper plumage and the wings margined with rufous, the chin and throat fulvous, and the breast broadly brown.” (Oates.)
The bank swallow has a very wide range, but occurs in the Philippines as a rare migrant only.
Luzon (Whitehead, Mearns, Curran). Formosa and southern China; in winter to Indian Peninsula and Indo-Chinese countries.
Adult.—Above light earthy brown, lighter on the rump; wings and tail darker brown; chin, throat, breast, sides of head and of neck pale gray; abdomen, vent, sides, and under tail-coverts white. Length, about 100; wing, 89; tail, 40; depth of fork, 5; bill from nostril, 4; tarsus, 9.
Young.—“The young bird has all the feathers of the upper plumage and wings broadly margined with rufous, and the chin, throat, and breast are pale rufous.” (Oates.)
The Chinese bank swallow is considerably smaller and has a less deeply forked tail than the preceding species. Whitehead found it fairly common in northern Luzon and observed numbers entering their nesting-holes in the high banks of the Abra River in February.
Plumage blackish above, glossed with blue or green, and the feathers with white bases; no white band on rump; tail deeply forked, in some species the outermost feathers attenuated and extending beyond the closed wings.
Mindanao (Mearns); Palawan (Whitehead). Europe, northern Asia, Indian Peninsula, Manchuria, China, and Indo-Chinese provinces; in winter to Africa and Malay Peninsula.
“Coloration.—Forehead, chin, and throat chestnut; lores black; upper plumage and wing-coverts glossy purplish blue; quills and tail black, suffused with glossy green; all the tail-feathers, except the middle pair, with a white patch on the inner web; sides of head and neck and a very broad pectoral band glossy black, a few of the feathers of the latter part narrowly fringed with chestnut; lower plumage from the pectoral band downward pale rufous, becoming rather darker on the under tail-coverts. Length, up to 203; tail, up to 114; wing, 127; tarsus, 13; bill from gape, 15; bifurcation of tail, about 68.
“The young bird does not differ very much from the adult, but has the color of its plumage very dull.” (Oates.)
Basilan (Bourns & Worcester); Bohol (McGregor); Cagayan Sulu (McGregor); Calayan (McGregor); Cebu (McGregor); Cuyo (McGregor); Fuga (McGregor); Guimaras (Steere Exp., Bourns & Worcester); Luzon (Everett, Steere Exp., Bourns & Worcester, McGregor); Maestre de Campo (McGregor & Worcester); Mindanao (Steere Exp., Bourns & Worcester); Mindoro (Bourns & Worcester); Palawan (Bourns & Worcester); Panay (Steere Exp., Bourns & Worcester); Semirara (Worcester); Sibay (McGregor & Worcester); Siquijor (Bourns & Worcester); Sulu (Bourns & Worcester); Ticao (McGregor). Malay Peninsula and Archipelago, Indo-Chinese provinces; central and eastern Siberia, China, Japan, New Guinea, Australia.
Adult (sexes similar).—Forehead, chin, and throat dark chestnut, lores black; upper parts dark steel-blue; feathers of hind neck and upper back with much white basally; sides of head and neck, and a broad, more or less interrupted, band on breast steel-blue; rest of under parts white, sometimes tinged with pale salmon-pink; wings and tail black, glossed with green; each of the rectrices except middle pair with a large white spot on inner web. Length, about 175; wing, 118; tail, 90; depth of fork, 47; bill from nostril, 6; tarsus, 10.
Young birds have the forehead, chin, and throat brown or whitish, and the breast-band and sides of head earthy brown.
Typical specimens of the common and eastern swallows are no doubt very distinct, but the two forms appear to intergrade so that some authors have rejected the latter species, although it seems now to be generally recognized. Sharpe says in part: “If one accepts the broken pectoral collar as the best sign of distinction between H. gutturalis and H. rustica, it will be found to be so only in the majority of specimens, and by no means invariably; in fact there is as much variation with H. gutturalis in the direction of a complete collar on the fore neck as there is in H. rustica in that of a broken collar. Again, although the majority of H. gutturalis have a white under surface, still this is not an unfailing character of the eastern race; for many undoubted examples are rufescent below, although there is never such a decided tint of rufous as in full-plumaged H. rustica.”
Lai-ang′ lai-ang′, Manila.
Babuyan Claro (McGregor); Bantayan (McGregor); Basilan (Steere Exp., Bourns & Worcester, McGregor); Batan (McGregor); Bohol (Everett, McGregor); Cagayan Sulu (Guillemard, McGregor); Calamianes (Bourns & Worcester, McGregor); Camiguin N. (McGregor); Catanduanes (Whitehead); Cebu (Everett, McGregor); Cuyo (McGregor); Dinagat (Everett); Guimaras (Bourns & Worcester); Leyte (Everett); Lubang (McGregor); Luzon (Whitehead, Bourns & Worcester); Marinduque (Steere Exp.); Masbate (Bourns & Worcester); Mindanao (Platen, Bourns & Worcester); Mindoro (Steere Exp., Schmacker, McGregor); Negros (Steere Exp., Bourns & Worcester); Palawan (Lempriere, Platen, Whitehead, Steere Exp., Bourns & Worcester, White); Panay (Bourns & Worcester); Romblon (McGregor); Samar (Steere Exp.); Sibutu (Everett); Sibuyan (McGregor); Siquijor (Bourns & Worcester, Celestino); Sulu (Guillemard, Bourns & Worcester); Tawi Tawi (Bourns & Worcester); Ticao (McGregor). Southern India, Malay Peninsula, Molucca Islands, islands of Torres Straits, New Guinea, Java, Sumatra, Borneo, Ceylon.
Adult (sexes similar).—Lores black; entire forehead, chin, throat, and fore breast chestnut-rufous; upper parts including wings and tail glossy steel-blue, feathers of neck and back with white bases; breast, abdomen, under tail-coverts, sides, and axillars ashy brown, whitish on abdomen; longest tail-coverts with white tips and black subterminal bars; rectrices, except middle pair, with white spots on inner webs. Length, about 140. Male, wing, 109; tail, 53; depth of fork, 12; bill from nostril, 7; tarsus, 9. Female, wing, 107; tail, 51; depth of fork, 7; bill from nostril, 7.
Young birds have the chin, throat, and breast much lighter, upper parts with less gloss, and the forehead black like the crown with no green gloss.
The Asiatic swallow is abundant and widely distributed. It makes a crescent-shaped nest of mud which it fastens to a rock-cliff or to a beam under a building. Three heavily incubated eggs were collected in Bohol in July. They are white, dotted with reddish and blackish brown, and with a few under shell-markings of lavender; they measure 17.7 by 12.4
Batan (McGregor); Bohol (McGregor); Calayan (McGregor); Camiguin N. (McGregor); Cebu (McGregor); Luzon (Whitehead); Masbate (Bourns & Worcester); Mindoro (Porter). Formosa, southern China, Burmese provinces, Java, Assam, Flores, Cachar.
Adult (sexes similar).—Above, except rump, dark steel-blue; loral feathers black with gray bases; a more or less triangular patch above and behind ear-coverts chestnut, streaked with black, continued forward over eye and slightly connected across occiput by fine lines of chestnut; feathers of neck and upper back largely white basally, this showing as white lines; under tail-coverts black; remainder of under parts including axillars and wing-lining white, or very pale fawn, with conspicuous blackish shaft-lines producing a very striking appearance; rump rusty chestnut with blackish shaft-lines; tail-coverts, secondaries, and secondary-coverts black, slightly glossed with blue; alula, primary-coverts, primaries, and rectrices black, slightly glossed with dark green. Bill black; legs and nails brown. Length, 190 to 195. A male from Cebu measures: Wing, 123; tail, 102; depth of fork, 55; bill from nostril, 6; tarsus, 14. A female from Cebu, wing, 120; tail, 93; depth of fork, 46; bill from nostril, 6; tarsus, 14.
Young.—General color pattern as in the adult, but head and back less strongly glossed with blue; chestnut on head and rump much lighter; wings and tail dark brown instead of black, and inner secondaries tipped with white; lower parts heavily washed with fawn, and shaft-stripes shorter, browner, and less sharply defined, very faint or altogether wanting on abdomen and under tail-coverts; axillars, wing-lining, and flanks strongly washed with fawn, shaft-lines faint or wanting.
If the Philippine representatives of the mosque swallow be included with H. striolata, as they must be at present, this species has a considerable range but it appears to be very local in occurrence. It may be found in numbers in one part of an island and be altogether absent a short distance away. It often appears in large flocks and may disappear within a few hours. I found it nesting in Bohol Island in May and in the Island of Batan during June. The nest is a bottle-shaped structure of mud, plastered to a wall in a cave or to a beam beneath a building. The eggs are pure white; three from Bohol measure: 22.6 by 14.7; 22.3 by 14.2; 22.8 by 14.7.