PICARIAN BIRDS AND PARROTS OF CEYLON. 235 
TACHORNIS BATASSIENSIS (Blanford, Vol. IIL., p. 170). 
CYPSELUS BATASSIENSIS (Legge, p. 322). 
The Palm Swift. 
Description.—Upper parts ashy-brown, the head slightly 
darker, the wings and tail dark brown with a slight gloss ; 
under parts mouse-gray, paler on the throat and chin. 
Bill black; iris reddish-brown ; legs and feet vinous- 
brown. 
Length 5°20; wing 4°4; tail 2°6; tarsus °4; bill from 
gape °5. 
Distribution —Common all over the low-country and in the 
lower hills ; most abundant in districts where the palmyra 
palm grows. Found in suitable localities throughout the 
Indian Peninsula. 
Habits, &c.—This little Swift prefers fields and open spaces 
round palmyra and coconut plantations, or, in the south of 
the Island, near areca palms. It never wanders far from the 
palms in which it roosts and nests. The breeding season 
appears to extend from October to April. The nest is placed 
on the under surface of a downward hanging palm leaf, and 
is a little open pocket made of wild cotton and feathers 
glued together with saliva. Two or three eggs are usually 
laid. They are pure white long ovals, measuring about 
‘71 by °46. 
Sub-family Cheturine. 
Spinetails, d&c. 
This sub-family contains two Indian genera, each of which 
is represented in Ceylon bya single species. The Spinetails— 
genus Chetura—are the fastest birds in existence. Théy 
take their name from the tail feathers, in which the shafts 
project beyond the webs and end in a spiny point. The 
genus Collocalia comprises the Swiftlets, whose nests, almost 
wholly composed of hardened saliva resembling isinglass, are 
much prized by the Chinese as an article of food. 
