}
E
p
I
E

 

DELICHON NIPALENSIS.
Nepaul Martin.

Delichon Nipalensis, Hodgs., Moore in Proc. of Zool. Soc., part xxii. (1854) pl. Ixiii—Horsf. and Moore, Cat. of
Birds in Mus. East-Ind. Comp., vol. i. p. 384.
Chelidon Nipalensis, Jerd. Birds of India, vol. i. p. 168.

 

os pretty little Martin,” says Dr. Jerdon, “ was only sent by Mr. Hodgson in 1853, from Nepaul.
I procured it at Darjeeling, at about 4500 feet of elevation, in the valley of the Rungnoo, near the mineral
springs. I found it flying over the jungles in large flocks, towards the close of the rains and during the
cold weather.” Mr. Moore remarks that it “ differs from the type of the genus Chelidon in its smaller and
more robust bill, in its shorter wings, and in its short and nearly even tail; from Cotyle it is at once distin-
guished by its plumed feet.”

The above is, I believe, all the information that has been recorded respecting this singular and beautiful
little Martin, of which there are several specimens in the British Museum, and one in my own, for which I
am indebted to Dr. Jerdon. The only difference I have observed in the plumage of the specimens that have
come under my inspection is, that the black colouring of the throat appears to be inconstant, some of
those in the national collection having that part interspersed with white.

I quite agree with Mr. Moore in the propriety of separating this bird from Chelidon, if I do not in the
anagrammatic character of the name he has proposed as a generic appellation; but as Dr. Leach’s transpo-
sition of the letters forming the word Alcedo into Dacelo among the Kingfishers has been admitted, why
should not that of Chelidon into Delichon be also allowed among the Swallows ?

As the native country of the Nepaul Martin becomes more known to ornithologists, we may hope to acquire
a detailed account of its habits, actions, and economy, all of which, I apprehend, will prove to be somewhat
peculiar.

Head, neck, back, chin, and lesser wing-coverts glossy bluish black; wings brownish black; breast,
abdomen, and a band across the rump white; upper parts of the flanks black; tail black, glossed with blue
on the edges of the feathers ; under tail-coverts bluish black ; bill black ; feet brownish black.

The figures are of the size of life.