Hirundo rustica Linnæus, Syst. Nat. ed. 10 (1758), 1, 191; Sharpe,
Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1885), 10, 128; Hand-List (1901), 3, 192;
Oates, Fauna Brit. Ind. Bds. (1890), 2, 277; Oates and Reid,
Cat. Birds' Eggs (1903), 3, 237; McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List
(1906), 69.
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.)