6 B0M1UY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY. 



inspissated saliva, are half saucer-shaped, and are affixed to the sides 

 of rocky caves, in sraal i clusters, but detached nests are not nufrequent. 

 The eo'srs, two or three in number, are, as a rule, long narrow ovals 



CO* ' ' o 



in shape, measuring - 8<'i inches in length by about 0*54 in breadth ; 

 iu colour they are dull glossless white. 



Nests of the first make are white, and are very valuble ; those of 

 the second are not so clear, and are mixed with extraneous matter, 

 and do nofc command so high a price iu the Chinese markets as the 

 others. Nests of the third make (which are left for the birds to breed 

 in) are discoloured and are much mixed with feathers, straws, &c., 

 and are of no commercial value. The right to collect the nests is 

 sold annually by Government, but the revenue derived from it is 

 very insignificant. 



Vingorla, Feb. and, April. G. Vidal, C. S. 



104.— THE INDIAN CRESTED SWIFT. 



Bcndrochelidon coronata, Tick. 

 The Indian Crested or Tree Swift is not uncommon at Ratnagiri, 



O " 



and occurs rarely all along the Western ghats. It has been recorded 

 from Mhow and from the hilly jungles of the Panch Mahals. It is 

 not uncommon in the broken hilly laud below the ghats aud along the 



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plain forest south of the Satpooras. It is a permanent resident where 

 found, breeding from April to Juno. The nest, which is small, is a 

 shallow half-saucer iu shape, no larger than a rupee, and is com- 

 posed of thin flakes of bark, glued by the bird's own saliva to the 

 dead branch of a tree. It is about half an inch in depth, and is 

 nowhere more than one-eighth of an inch iu thickness. The egg, 

 there is only one, is oval in shape, measuring 0"9 inches in length 

 by 057 in breadth, and is dull glossless white in colour. 



The nest is easy to find, as the cock-bird, while the hen is sitting 

 for most of the day, keeps flying within a hundred yards of the neat. 

 lie continually calls and is answered by the female from the nest, 

 which is generally on a thin bare branch, from eight to twenty feet 

 from the ground. 



Punch Mahals, May. R. Littledalc, Esq. 



Western Khandcsh, Feb. to April. J. Davidson, C.S. 



