NOTES. 65 



to cast its skin. Messrs. Green and Austen have recorded {Spolia, 

 III., 196, and IV., 32) a similar defensive action on the part of toads, 

 but my frogs did not " alternately raise and lower the hinder 

 part of the body " as their toads did. 



T. BAINBRIGGE FLETCHER. 



H. M. S. Sealark, 

 September 13, 1907. 



2. Rare Colombo Birds. — On January 6 last I saw two Alpine 

 Swifts {Cypselus melba) hawking within twenty feet of the ground 

 near the General Cemetery. The appearance of these birds, which 

 rank amongst the speediest birds in existence, in Colombo, is, I 

 think, worthy of record, as they are not often seen as low as this. 

 Legge says : — "It takes up its quarters amongst the upper regions 

 of the Kandyan Province," and adds " but, being a bird of such 

 immense powers of flight, it wanders with ease, in the course of a 

 day's hawking, over all parts of the Island." 



During last December and January a flock of seven Black-sided or 

 Sociable Lapwings {Chettusia gregaria) (see Spolia Zeylanica, II., 

 p. 190) were to be seen on the racecourse. They were very tame, 

 and allowed riders to come quite close before taking wing. 



I should be glad if any ornithologist can tell me whether the 

 Wire-tailed Swallow [Hirundo smithii) has been observed in Ceylon. 

 I am almost certain I saw one hawking over the sides of the Colombo 

 lake on July 1st of this year. The bird was very much like H. 

 rustica, but the length of the outer tail feathers, white underparts, 

 and conspicuous white spots on the rectrices attracted my attention. 

 If it was not H. smithii it must have been a common swallow in 

 full summer plumage, and its presence here on the above-mentioned 

 date is somewhat unusual, and I think worthy of record. 



W. A. CAVE. 

 Colombo, September, 1907. 



3. Window-tapping by Birds. — Various species of birds have 

 been noticed to indulge in the above habit. In the hUls a species 

 of Wagtail is a constant performer. But I do not think that the 

 common honeysucker {Cinnyris zeylonicus)* has been included in the 

 list of window-tappers. 



The window of my laboratory in the Peradeniya Gardens has 

 recently been assaulted in this manner. The birds were building in 



* Now named Arachnechthra zeylonica, the Purple-rumped Sun bird. 

 (Fauna Brit. Ind. Birds, vol. 11., p. 364) 



K 8-07 



