4?0 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, Vol. XV. 



Family HIRUNDINID.E. 



(112) Hirundo rustica. — The .Swallow. 



Oates, No. 813 ; Jerdon, No. 82. 



(113) Hirundo gdtturalis.— The Eastern Swallow. 



Oates No. 814. 

 Swallows of these two species are fairly common throughout the low 

 country during the winter months, but it is very difficult to discri- 

 minate them. A few of my specimens may be certainly put down 

 as typical H. rustica having the chin and throat chestnut, a broad, 

 uninterrupted, black, pectoral band aud the lower plumage from the 

 pectoral band very pale-rufous. Others again have the chin and throat 

 greyish-white. Others have the pectoral band much interrupted, not 

 in the middle only, but throughout by chestnut. Some of these have 

 the lower parts white, others pale-rufous, so that they are absolutely in- 

 termediate between the types. I sent a few to Calcutta, and Mr. Finn 

 identified them as H. gutturalis, but added they are not typical. 

 (114) Hirundo javanica. — The Nilgiri House-swallow. 

 Oates, No. 817 ; Jerdon, No. 83. 

 The Nilgiri House-Swaliow may be found at elevations of 4,0U0 feet 

 and upwards throughout the Hill Range of Travancore. " Breeds in 

 March, April and May, building a nest of mud very carefully lined with 

 feathers. The usual site for the nest is under the eaves of a house, but 

 I have seen the nest placed against a rock. Unlike its European 

 congener these birds do not build in colonies, and I cannot remember 

 ever having seen more than one nest in any place. The eggs are one 

 or three in number, white, spotted with red, and are conspicuously 

 smaller than those of the common English swallow.*' — T. F. B. 

 (115) Hirundo erythuopygia. — Svke's Striated Swallow. 

 Oates, No. 823 ; Jerdon, No. 85. 

 Oates gives the distribution of this swallow as '' the plains of India 

 from the foot of the Himalayas to the Nilgiris." It, however, extends 

 to the low country throughout Travancore, and 1 shot one specimen on 

 the High Range at an elevation somewhat over 5,000 feet. 



Family MOTACILLID/E. 

 (116) Motacilla alba. — The White Wagtail. 

 Oates, No. 826. 

 Oates says this bird is "a winter visitor to the whole Empire as 

 far south as Belgaum." 1 collected specimens in 1901 both at Pirmerd 



