182 HIRUNDINIDiE. 



breeding of this species : — " The natural habitat of this Swallow is 

 amongst rocks and on the faces of cliffs, and in such situations it 

 may always be found ; but it readily avails itself of the windows 

 and porches of houses, even nesting among the two-storied houses 

 in native towns. I have also known it make its nest on the side of 

 a well. The nest is open all round, merely attached to the wall by 

 one side, and is very neatly lined with feathers. The eggs are more 

 round than those of any of our other Swallows, and are minutely 

 speckled with brown, especially about the thick end ; the usual 

 number is, I think, three. They are persecuted wliilo building, and 

 occasionally driven away, by the Sparrows ; but tlieir open nest not 

 being adapted to the wants of these birds, they do not take pos- 

 session of it. Though capable, from their length of wing, of great 

 speed, they are no travellers, but may generally be found flying about 

 their chosen cliff or building in a very leisurely manner ; the young 

 continue about the spot for some time, but I never saw the old ones 

 feed them upon the wing after the manner of the AVire-tailed 

 Swallows." 



Major C. T. Bingham writes, from Allahabad :— " On the 13th 

 October I found a nest Avith two eggs. A mud cup, stuck against 

 a niche in the ruins of an old temple, 3| inches in depth outside, 

 1 in depth inside, lined with a few straws and feathers. Eggs pale 

 pinky white, blotched rather than speckled with tiny marks of grey 

 and purple and sepia." 



Colonel Butler writes : — " The Dusky Crag- Martin breeds at 

 Mount Aboo in June and July, on the sides of cliffs and in hollow 

 rocks, sticking the nest to the wall, as do others of the tribe. The 

 nest is usually a half-cup open at the top, similar in composition 

 and appearance to the nest of H ir undo filif era. 



" On the 26th August, 1876, I found a nest in Deosa similar to 

 the one already described, but built against a wall under the eaves 

 of a building in the European barracks. It contained two nearly 

 fresh eggs. Another nest in Deesa, in a similar situation, con- 

 taining three fresh eggs, on the 24th September, 1875. Another 

 nest on a beam in the verandah of the regimental school, Deesa, 

 5th October, 1876, containing three fresh eggs." 



And subsequently he wrote from Belgaum : — " Belgaum, 13th 

 July, 1879, three fresh eggs ; 11th August, three fresh eggs ; 15th 

 August, two fresh eggs; 29th August, three fresh eggs; 21st 

 February, 1880, three fresh eggs ; 15th March, three fresh eggs." 



My friend Mr. Benjamin Aitken favours me with the following 

 note : — " These birds may be seen wherever there is a range of 

 cliffs or a row of dark walls, provided the place is not much 

 frequented by men ; and they always choose the shady side, as far 

 as I have observed, to sail up and down. Their old nests are very 

 numerous on the rocks that line the railway-cutting through the 

 Bliore Ghiit, and also on the cliffs at Poorundhor, the sanitarium 

 18 m'les south of Poona. These nests are placed at from 5 to 

 12 feet from the ground. 1 satisfied myself that the Martins were 

 breeding on the top of tlie Bhore Grhat at the end of May 1871 ; 



