Collocalia marginata Salvadori, Atti. R. Acad. Sci. Torino
(1882), 17, 448; Hartert, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1892),
16, 508; Sharpe, Hand-List (1900), 2, 90; Oberholser,
Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philad. (1906), 58, 203.
Collocalia cebuensis Kutter, Jour. für Orn. (1882), 171.
Salangana marginata McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 59.
Ni-do and sa-lum-pi-ping-ao, Calayan.
Babuyan Claro (McGregor); Banton (Celestino); Bohol (McGregor);
Calayan (McGregor); Camiguin N. (McGregor); Cebu (Koch, McGregor);
Luzon (Othberg, McGregor); Masbate (Bourns & Worcester); Mindoro
(McGregor); Polillo (Ickis [42]); Sibuyan (McGregor); Tablas
(Celestino).
Adult.--Above very dark glossy green, short upper tail-coverts margined
with pure white; feathers in front of eye white with dusky tips; sides
of head, neck, and chin mouse-gray; feathers of throat with narrow
white edges, posteriorly the white edges gradually increase in width
so that the abdomen is almost entirely white; under tail-coverts dark
glossy green with narrow white margins; under wing-coverts narrowly
edged with white. Iris, bill, toes, and nails black; tarsi dark
flesh. Length, about 96. Five specimens of each sex from Calayan
measure: Males, wing, 102 to 107; tail, 40 to 46; females, wing,
102 to 105; tail, 41 to 42.
Young.--Two nestlings from Sibuyan are like the adult in plumage
except that the white edges to the upper tail-coverts are but just
indicated. Bill and nails black; legs pale flesh.
Nest.--Nests in small colonies, fastening the nests to the face of
a rock. The nest is composed of blackish brown hair-moss and held
together by the characteristic glutenous saliva. The eggs do not
differ from others of this genus being two in number and pure white
in color. The eggs of a set collected in Sibuyan, June 11, 1904,
measure 18.2 by 10.9 and 17 by 11.6 mm.
This species has been very rare in collections; the only specimen in
the British Museum in 1892 was a skin of doubtful locality collected
by von Othberg. We have met with it on several islands; in Sibuyan
and Calayan it was extremely abundant.