Cypselus giganteus Temminck, Pl. Col. (1825), 364.
Chætura gigantea Hartert, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1892), 16, 475;
Sharpe, Hand-List (1900), 2, 91; McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List
(1906), 59.
Calamianes (Worcester, Celestino); Palawan (Whitehead, Platen,
Steere Exp., Bourns & Worcester, Celestino, White). Sumatra,
Malay Peninsula, Java, Borneo.
Adult.--Forehead, crown, nape, sides of head and neck, wings and tail
black with very dark steel-blue gloss; lores deep black; remainder
of plumage deep smoky brown, except under tail-coverts and a patch
on lower flank which are white; shafts of under tail-coverts dark
brown. A male from Palawan measures: Length, 239; wing, 203; tail,
67; exposed culmen, 10; tarsus, 17. A female from Culion measures:
Length, 229; wing, 200; tail, 68; exposed culmen, 9; tarsus, 16.
Worcester and Celestino collected a large series of giant swifts in
Culion and Palawan. I have seen large swifts in Benguet Province and
in Calayan, and Worcester observed a large flock in northern Luzon
which may have been either C. gigantea or C. dubia.