HIRUNDININ A. SL 
- Above, blue-black; narrow supercilium; sides of the head, 
behind the ear-coverts, and rump ferruginous ; beneath rufescent- 
white, with dusky streaks ; terminal half or third of under tail- 
coverts abruptly black. Young more dull in its tints merely. 
The Red-rumped Swallow occurs generally throughout our 
limits, but is more common in hilly districts (such as Mount 
Aboo) than in open country; most of them retire to the hills 
to breed about April, but a few remain ; and nests are occasionally 
found in the plains. The nest, constructed of pellets of mud 
lined with feathers, is affixed to the under-surface of a ledge of 
rock, the roof of a cave, the arch of a bridge, or some such simi- 
lar place ; it is retort-shaped, having a bulb-like chamber at one 
end, with a tubular passage, sometimes seven or eight inches long 
at the other; they continue to lengthen this passage, even after 
the eggs are laid. 1 have never myself found nests of any other 
type than this, bat Mr. Blewitt remarks that “they are eccentric 
to a degree in the selection of a suitable place for a nest, the 
form and material of which mainly depends on the locality ; in 
a hole, a simple collection of feathers answers, &c.,” and is dis- 
posed to believe that these retort-shaped nests are merely intend- 
ed for winter residences. I have many times watched the build- 
ing of the nest and the rearing of the young in these same 
retort-shaped nests. poe 
_ The eggs, three in number, are pure white in color, long ovals 
in shape, and average 0°78 in length by 0°55 in breadth. 
Hirundo fiuvicola, Jerd. 
86.—Jerdon’s Birds of India, Vol. I, p. 161; Butler, Deccan; 
Stray Feathers, Vol. IX, p. 378; Guzerat, Stray Feathers, Vol. 
stl Ep. 432. 
THE INDIAN CLIFF SWALLOW. 
Length, 4°5 ; wing, 3:5 ; tail, 1°75. 
_ Above, glossy black -with some whitish edges to the dorsal 
feathers ; crown dark-rufous ; ramp brownish ; beneath white, with 
black mesial streaks to the feathers of the throat and breast ; 
the under-surface of the wings pale brown; tail slightly furcate, 
with a small whitish spot towards the tip of the inner web of 
each feather. 
The Indian Cliff Swallow is not uncommon in some parts of 
the Deccan, but is very locally distributed. It occurs at Satara 
and Sholapur in some numbers. Near Aboo and Deesa it is 
very rare, but at Ahmedabad there are several large colonies. It 
does not occur in Sind. It is generally a permanent resident 
where found, breeding against the faces of cliffs, &c, from 
February to April, and again in July and August; the nests, 
composed of mud, lined with feathers, are retort-shaped, and occur 
in clusters of from 80 to 200, or even more; the egos, generally 
three in number, are either wholly white, or white, streaked, 
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