82 HIRUNDININZ. 
spotted, blotched, or capped with pale yellowish or reddish-brown. 
They average 0°76 in length by 0°53 in breadth. 
Genus, Cotyle, Bove. 
Bill weak, depressed, very broad at base, smaller than in 
Hirundo, barely hooked at tip; wings somewhat longer, first quill 
longest, longer than the tail ; tail, even or slightly notched ; tarsus 
slightly longer; toes weaker, outer toe proportionally longer ; 
claws lengthened ; plumage sombre, and barely glossed. 
Cotyle riparia, Zin. 
87.—Jerdon’s Birds of India, Vol. I, p. 163; Butler, Deccan, 
Stray Feathers, Vol. 1X, p.3878; Guzerat, Vol. III, p. 482; 
Murray’s Vertebrate Zoology of Sind, p. 103. 
THE EUROPEAN SAND MARTIN, 
Length, 4°75 ; wing, 4; tail, 2. 
Bill black ; legs and feet horny; tarsus feathered on the back, 
down to the hind-toe. 
Plumage above, and the breast, pale dusky greyish-brown ; 
throat, belly, and under tail-coverts white; the tail slightly 
forked. 
The European Sand Martin has been very doubtfully recorded 
from almost every part of the district. I have myself never met 
with it. 
Cotyle sinensis, J. #. Gr. 
89.—Jerdon’s Birds of India, Vol. I, p. 164; Butler, Guzerat ; Stray 
Feathers, Vol. III, p. 432; Deccan, Stray Feathers, Vol. IX, 
p. 378 ; Murray’s Vertebrate Zoology of Sind, p. 103 ; Swinhoe 
and Barnes, Central India ; Ibis, 1885, p. 60. 
THE INDIAN SAND MARTIN. 
Length, 4 to 47; expanse, 9°8 to 10°75; wing, 33 to 38; tail, 
16 to 18; tarsus, 0°4; bill from gape, 0°42 to 0°47. 
Bill black ; gape pale fleshy ; irides dark-brown ; feet brownish 
or dusky fleshy. 
Above earthy grey-brown, darker on the crown; upper tail- 
coverts somewhat albescent ; throat and breast pale-greyish ; crown, 
wings and tail dusky-brown ; belly and lower tail-coverts white ; 
tarsus not feathered, but with a small tuft. 
The young birds have a more or less rufous tinge. 
The Indian Sand Martin is common throughout the district, 
and breeds in holes in banks of rivers, from November to Febru- 
ary, and even later. The nest-holes vary from eighteen to thirty- 
six inches in depth, according to the nature of the soil in which 
they are excavated; the nest is composed of fine grass, lined 
with feathers; the eggs, three in number, are pure white ovals, 
measuring 0°68 inches in length by about 0°48 in breadth. 
