192 BULLETIN 186, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



The palm swift is a common bird of towns and. villages throughout 

 the northern lowlands, wherever the vegetation is suitable for its re- 

 quirements. I have specimens from Chiang Mai, Ban Mae Klang, and 

 Sala Mae Tha. 



The occurrence of this species is wholly dependent upon the presence 

 of palms of the genera Cocos, Borassus, and Areca, and, accordingly, 

 it is found in our provinces only in close proximity to human habita- 

 tion. The bands of small, slim swifts, darting through the palm groves 

 with constant chattering, are familiar to all residents of Thailand. 



At Ban Nam Khian, April 21, Smith found a nest with two eggs 

 fastened to a frond of Areca. I never discovered a nest at Chiang Mai 

 but took specimens there with enlarged gonads, June 7 and July 2. 



A male had the irides brown; the bill black; the interior of the 

 mouth pinkish ; the feet, toes, and claws brownish black. 



This is a small, dark-colored swift with forked tail. It has the 

 entire upperparts grayish black, the underparts brownish gray. 



Family HEMIPROCNIDAE 



HEMIPROCNE LONGIPENNIS CORONATA (Tickell) 



Indian Crested Tree Swift 



Hirundo Coronata Tickell, Journ. Asiat. Soc. Bengal, vol. 2, 1833, p. 580 (Borab- 



hani and Dholbham, India). 

 Hemiprocne coronata, Gyldenstolpe, Kungl. Svenska Vet.-Akad. Handl., 1916, 



p. 107 (Ban Mae Na, Doi Pha Sakaeng, Khun Tan) ; Ibis, 1920, p. 584 



("Northern and north-western Siam"). — de Schauensee, Proc. Acad. Nat. 



Sci. Philadelphia, 1929, p. 575 (Chiang Mai). — Deignan, Journ. Siam Soc. 



Nat. Hist. Suppl., 1931, p. 163 (Chiang Mai, Doi Suthep) ; 1936, p. 91 (Chiang 



Mai, Doi Suthep).— Riley, U. S. Nat. Mus. Bull. 172, 1938, p. 157 (Ban Mae 



Klang, Mae Khan, Khun Tan, Mae Hong Son). 



Though the tree swift is a common resident of the plains and lower 

 hills in the more western provinces, it is not yet recorded from any 

 locality east of Ban Mae Mo (Lampang Province). Eisenhofer sent 

 to Stockholm a single undated example from Khun Tan. I have taken 

 it at Chiang Mai, Sala Mae Tha, Ban Sop Mae Chaem, and Ban Mae 

 Mo and have occasionally seen it on Doi Suthep to 3,300 feet. 



At Chiang Mai I often saw tree swifts hawking over the river and 

 the bazaar in company with Cypsiurus, but the species was commoner 

 in the countryside, especially near some tall, dead tree standing iso- 

 lated in the fields, upon which, between flights, the birds rested, 

 usually huddled closely together, in a curiously erect position. While 

 flying, the bird keeps its deeply forked tail folded and then re- 

 sembles a small, slim parakeet; this likeness is increased by its low, 

 screaming notes. 



A male taken on September 1 at Ban Mae Mo is completing the 

 postnatal molt. 



