PICARIAN BIRDS AND PARROTS OF CEYLON. 237 
COLLOCALIA UNICOLOR (Blanford, Vol. IV., p. 485). 
CoLLOCALIA FUCIPHAGA (Blanford, Vol. III., p. 176). 
COLLOCALIA FRANCICA (Legge, p. 324). 
The Indian Edible-nest Swiftlet. 
Description.—Upper parts blackish-brown, with a greenish 
gloss on back, wings, and tail ; under parts mouse-gray, the 
feathers of the lower breast and abdomen with darker shaft- 
stripes ; tarsi quite naked. 
Bill black ; iris brown ; legs and feet fleshy brown. 
Length 4°65; wing 4°6; tail 2:1; tarsus -4; bill from 
gape °4. 
Distribution.—Roosts and breeds in rock caves in the hill 
ranges, and also in the isolated hills of the low-country, as at 
Hiniduma and Ritigala. As it wanders a good deal in the course 
of a day’s flight, it may be seen almost anywhere in the Island. 
It also occurs in the South Indian hills and the Western 
Himalayas. 
Habits, &c.—This species is often seen in company with 
the Palm Swift hawking for insects over open ground, round 
tanks, &c. The breeding season varies in different localities 
between Christmas and April. The birds nest in large 
colonies. Of late years they have taken very kindly to the 
railway tunnels between Ohiya and Bandarawela. The nest 
is a half saucer formed of clear hardened saliva mixed with a 
little moss and glued to the wall of the cave. Two white eggs 
of the usual type are laid, measuring about 84 by °53. 
Sub-family Wacropterygine. 
Crested Swifts. 
This sub-family consists of a single genus confined to India, 
Malaya, and the New Guinea region. Only one species occurs 
in Ceylon. 
The Crested Swifts differ considerably from the other sub- 
families. The tarsus is short and naked, and the closed 
wings do not extend beyond the tail, which is long and forked. 
f| 6(5)20 
