HIRUNDININ^. IGl 



together. I have found one or two nests in deserted out-houses 

 in Mysore ; and they are said to breed very constantly on 

 large buildings, old mosques, pagodas, and such like ; hence the 

 native name of Mosque Swallow, in the South of India; but I 

 rather think there is a considerable increase of their numbers 

 durinsr the cold weather, and it was no doubt at the time of their 

 Northward migration, that Col. Sykes saw them in such vast num- 

 bers at Poona. From Hodgson's remarks I conclude that they 

 breed in Nepal, and Adams says that they breed in the North-west 

 Himalayas, migrating in winter to the Punjab. He, however, de- 

 scribes the nest as different from those observed by Pallas and myself, 

 for he says, — " Nests oblong, of mud and feathers intermixed ; has 

 generally two or more openings." Mr, Swinhoe, too, remarks that, 

 in Northern China, " it breeds under the roof-tops, making a dome- 

 shaped nest, of mud, lined M'ith feathers, and lays four or five white 

 or pinkish eggs." The nest, as figured by Pallas, and observed by 

 myself, is a spherical, or oval-shaped, mud nest, with a long 

 neck, or tubular entrance, of the kind which is called a retort-nest, 

 and the eggs are white, faintly marked with rusty-colored spots. 

 It may often be seen seated on trees in great numbers. Mr. 

 Elliot says (taking, I imagine, a native idea), "It flies after insects, 

 and, when its mouth is full, sits on a tree to devour them." It is 

 spread over all Northern and Central Asia. 



Two allied species from Japan, viz., Japonica, and striolata, T. 

 and Schl., are inserted in Bonaparte's Synopsis. 



B. With shorter tail, sub-furcate. 



86. Hirundo fiuvicola, Jerdon. 



Blyth, J. A. S., 1855, p. 470. 



The Indian Cliff Swallow. 



Descr. — Above, glossy black, with some whitish edges to the 

 dorsal feathers ; crown dark rufous ; rump brownish ; beneath 

 white, with black mesial streaks to the feathers of the throat and 

 breast ; the under surface of the wings pale brown ; tail slightly 

 furcate, with a small whitish spot towards the tip of the inner web 

 of each feather. 



