166 BIRDS or INDIA. 



open at the top. I did not procure the eggs, the nest being usually 

 in rather inaccessible situations. It does not build in company, 

 and is nowhere abundant in individuals. 



91. Cotyle rupestris, Scop. 



Hirundo, apud Scopoli— Blyth, Cat. 1202— Horsf., Cat .117 

 — Gould, Birds of Europe, pi 56 — H. inornata Jerdon, Suppl. 

 Cat. 263 bis — H. rupicola, Hodgs. — H. montana, Hodgs. 

 The Mountain Crag Martin. 



Desco\ — Above, pale ashy brown, darker on the quills and tail, 

 throat and breast rufous white ; abdomen rufous ash}^ ; under 

 tail coverts ashy brown ; a large white spot on the inner vvebs of 

 all the tail feathers, except the two outer and two centre ones ; bill 

 black ; legs light reddish brown. 



Length 5i inches ; wing 5|, exceeding the tail by 1 inch or so ; 

 tail 2y*Q, nearly square; extent of wing 14|, weight 1\ oz. 



I have only seen this plain colored Martin on the summit 

 of the Neilgherries, and at Darjeellng, occasionally in large flocks, 

 at other times in small parties, and only in the cold weather. 

 At Darjeeling they seemed to be birds of passage entirely, as I 

 saw them in October in immense numbers for a few days, 

 and subsequently they had entirely disappeared. It is found as a 

 mountain species in the South of Europe, N. Africa, and 

 probably through all Central Asia. Hodgson says it is common in 

 Nepal, adhering to the mountains, and remaining all the year. 

 Tristam records it as occuring in Palestine, not gregarious. 



Gen. Chklidon, House Martin. 



Char. — Bill somewhat shorter than in Hirundo, but thicker ; 1st 

 quill longest ; tarsi and toes feathered ; tail very slightly forked. 

 Some of the Martins, it is said, have a tendency to revert the pos- 

 terior toe, like the Swifts. 



92. Chelidon urbica, Lin. 



Hirundo, apud Linn^us — Hoksf., Cat. 622 — Blyth, Cat. 

 1201— Jerdon, Suppl. Cat. 260— Gould, Birds of Europe, pi. 57. 



