440 



APPENDIX. 



" After the first fright the birds became iiuiet and confident. A young one Hew into my 

 half-closed hand, and I detained it for awhile, and it never strusgled. Another tried to snoodle 

 into the shirt pocket of the black boy who accompanied me. Several brushed against our faces. 

 Clouds partially obscured the sun, and what with the screen of foliage and the prevailing gloom 

 of the cave we could not always distinguish the nests. When the sun shone brightly all were 

 plainly discernible, those with the single pearly egg being quaintly pretty. As they flitted in 

 and out of the cave the birds were as noiseless as butterflies, save when they wheeled to avoid 

 each other. Those which were brooding, as they flitted over the nests or clung to the edges, 

 uttering a peculiar note hard to vocalise. To my ears it sounded as a blending of cheeping, 

 clinking and chattering, yet metallic, and not very unlike the hasty winding up of a cloclc. 



" One bird flew to her nest a foot or so from my face, and clung to it. To test its timidity 

 or otherwise I approached my face to within two inches, but she continued to scrutinize me 



even at such close quarters with 

 charming assurance. Then I gently 

 placed my hand over her. She 

 struggled, but not wildly, for a 

 few seconds and then remained 

 passive, with bright eyes glinting 

 in the gloom. She was a dusky 

 little creature, the primaries, the 

 back of the head, neck, the shoul- 

 ders and tail being black, but when 

 the wings were extended the grey 

 fluff of the liase of the tail was 

 conspicuous. After a few minutes 

 I put her back on the nest, and 

 she clung to it, having no shyness 

 or fear. I noticed that the beak 

 was very short, the gape very 

 large, the legs dwarfed and the toes 

 slender. 



" We remained in the cave for 

 about half an hour, during which 

 time the birds came and went 

 indifferent to our presence. As far 

 as I am aware members of this species never rest save in their headquarters, clinging to the 

 roof or the nests, and never utter a sound except the reassuring prattle upon alighting on the 

 edge of the nest. It was interesting to note that while many young birds were fluttering about 

 in the cave, none occupied a nest, and eggs were in successive stages of incubation, as proved 

 by appearance and test. 



" The nests do not provide accommodation for more than one chick, which before flight is 

 obviously too large for its birth place. Looking down into the cave, the eggs well advanced 

 towards incubation seem to have a slight phosphorescent glow. The earliest date so far recorded 

 of the discovery of a newly laid egg is October 14th, but there is reason to believe that the 

 breeding season begins at least a month earlier. On January 10th this year (1910), half the 

 nests in the cave originally described contained eggs, in most of which (judging by opacity) 

 incubation was far advanced, while in several were young birds, some newly hatched, others 

 apparently ready to depart from their gloomy, foul-smelling quarters. These latter clung so 

 determinedly to their nests with needle-like toes, that the force necessary to remove them would 

 certainly have caused injury." 



NEST AND EGUS OK THE CKEV-RU.MPED SWIFT. 



