On the Nidification of certain South-Indian Birds. 313 



XXII. — On the Nidification of certain South-Indian Birds. 

 By Rhodes W. Morgan. 



1. HiRUNDO DOMicoLAj Jcrdon. 



Breeds in the Neilgherries in the roofs of houses and ve- 

 randas, also on large rocks and cliffs. In shape the nest 

 resembles a pocket or the half of a teacup. It is formed of 

 small clay pellets agglutinated together with the saliva of the 

 bird, and is very firmly cemented to the face of the rock. 

 The lining consists of feathers. The eggs are generally two 

 in number, minutely speckled with claret-coloui'ed spots on a 

 whitish ground, the spots being gathered together in a zone 

 at the larger end. Average length '77 inch, breadth -5. 



2. COLLOCALIA FRANCICA (Gm.). 



Breeds from March to May. I know of the existence 

 of three breeding-places on the Neilgherries. One is well 

 known to the residents under the name of the " Tiger^s Den.^^ 

 It is situated on the road from Ootacamund to Coonoor, and 

 is about three miles distance from the former place. The 

 other two were discovered by myself near the Pykarah water- 

 falls ; one, in a cliff between two huge boulders of rock, is of 

 considerable size, and branches ofl* into two passages. After 

 penetrating for about twenty feet, you come to two passages 

 at right angles to one another ; the main passage descends ab- 

 ruptly for about twelve feet. I managed to get down this by 

 the aid of ropes, and found myself knee-deep in excrement ; 

 and almost at the same moment a perfect shower of filth de- 

 scended on my head from above. The nests Avere situated at 

 the extreme end of the passage, on the face of the rock. They 

 were constructed entirely of inspissated saliva mixed with 

 moss, lichen, and a few feathers. In shape they were pre- 

 cisely similar to the nests sold in the Chinese markets. Each 

 nest contained two eggs, which were of a pure white, and 

 much elongated. The measurement of an egg in my collec- 

 tion is as follows — length '85 inch, diameter across "54. 



3. Caprimulgus indicus, Latham. 



This Nightjar breeds in all the forests and thick brush- 

 wood jungles of Southern India. Its monotonous note may 



