808 M. Sundevall on the Birds of Calcutta. 



apode. Tarsi plumati. Nares apertura lineari introrsum arcuata, et 

 ad latus internum membranae sita. (In C. apode apertura per medium 

 membranae ducta.) 



The two specimens above-described came on board ship De- 

 cember 6th, in the midst of the Indian ocean, near the equator, due 

 S. from Ceylon, consequently ninety geographical miles from that 

 island, and the same distance from the Maldives. They seemed 

 fatigued, and settled upon the rigging, from which they were 

 shot down. The wind had been somewhat variable, with storms 

 of rain, but not strong enough to drive these powerfully-flying 

 birds astray. They must have been on some excursion without 

 a definite object, which at all events had been their last; and 

 doubtless innumerable multitudes of birds perish every year in 

 the sea from a similar love of wandering. The same species was 

 afterwards recognised in Bengal, where it appeared very common, 

 though I did not obtain it there. A pair of these birds was seen 

 in a house at Serampore, where they built in February and had 

 young the beginning of April. The nest lay on a beam, about 

 ten ells high ; it was composed of feathers, straw, &c. without 

 mud. I omitted to observe whether this nest was smeared with 

 a glutinous substance like that with which the nest of our Swift 

 is cemented together, for this last circumstance was then unknown 

 to me. During flight this species resembled the House- Swallow 

 rather than the Swift, since the wings are not so pointed and 

 curved as those of the latter. These and other allied birds in 

 India were seldom seen to fly in the middle of the day, but mostly 

 in the morning and evening. The male above-described had 

 many worms in the intestine. 



41. Cypselus palmarum, Gray , 111. ii. t. 6. fig. 1. — [Verisim. Hirundo 

 indica, Gm., Lath. no. 16, et Hir. ambrosiaca var. b, Lath. no. 9.] 



Griseus, subtus dilutior, cauda profunde furcata, alis parum bre- 

 viore. Longit. fere 5 poll. 



$, $ (initio Maii). Immaculatus, supra fuscescens, capite vix ru- 

 fescente tincto. Gula et genae albidae. Remiges et rectrices paullo 

 senescentes. Rostrum et pedes nigri. Long, alae plic. 112 millim., 

 caudae 65. Digiti prioris. Remigum l a brevior quam 2 da , narium 

 apertura sublinearis, ad latus externum membranae. Tarsi extus 

 tantum plumati. Rectrices mediae duplo breviores quam extimse. 



The flight of this species also is much like that of the House- 

 Swallow. The species is common in Bengal. In the beginning 

 of May I saw a pair who were engaged in building their nest 

 high up in a palm-tree (Borassus flabelliformis) among the lower 

 portion of the leaf-stalks, which correspond to the branches in 

 other trees. They had their mouths all slimy, and full of a kind 

 of down like the pappus of some syngenesious plant, which they 

 appeared to catch during flight; for I saw them fly round for a 



