CYPSELIN2, 87 
throat dirty white ; the rest of the body glossy brown; the tips 
of the feathers whitish ; the tail is forked, the outer feathers being 
about one inch shorter than the central ones. 
In the Jbis for 1871-72, Dr. Jerdon considerably modified the 
above description. I cannot do better than reproduce the passage :-— 
“Stolickza remarks that in some specimens there was no trace of 
white on the claws, This character is indeed exceptional, and 
the name is therefore unfortunate.” Dr. S. also states that a slight 
pale supercilium is generally traceable, and that the head and 
neck are paler than the back. 
Dr. Jerdon obtained a specimen in the western part of the 
Deccan, and several in Malabar ; it does not appear to have been 
procured by any other naturalist, 
Cypsellus batassiensis, J. H. Gr. 
102.—Jerdon’s Birds of India, Vol. I, p. 180; Butler, Deccan ; 
Stray Feathers, Vol. IX, p. 379; Guzerat, Stray Feathers, 
Vol. IIT, p. 454. 
THE PALM SWIFT. 
Tadi ababil, Hin. 
Length, 4°92 to 5:25; expanse, 9°50; wing, 4°5; tail, 2°35; 
tarsus, 04; bill from gape, 0°5. 
Bill black ; irides brown ; feet dusky-reddish, 
Wholly glossy ashy-brown; darker on the wings and tail, and 
lighter and somewhat albescent beneath ; tail deeply forked. 
The Palm Swift is acommon and permanent resident in many 
parts of the Deccan, wherever there are plenty of palm trees, 
but where there are not, this bird is generally absent. Captain 
Butler saw a pair at Mount Aboo, but it must be very rare there, 
as no other observer has noticed it. 
They nest twice in the year, in March and again in July; 
the nest, a tiny, watch-pocket-shaped cup, is made of saliva, 
incorporated with fine feathers, the down of plants, and such like 
kindred substances, and is fixed to the under surface of a bent 
palm leaf; the eggs, generally three in number, are miniatures 
of those of C. affinis, and average barely 0°71 in length by 0°46 
in breadth, 
Genus, Collocalia, Gray. 
Hind toe pointing backwards; second quill longest; tail moderate, 
even, or slightly forked ; bill very small, much hooked ; feet very 
small, 
Collocalia unicolor, Jerd. 
103.—Collocalia nidifica, Latham.—Jerdon’s Birds of India, 
Vol. I, p. 183; Butler, Deccan; Stray Feathers, Vol. IX, 
p. 380, 
THE INDIAN EDIBLE-NEST SWIFTLET. 
Length, 4°75 to 5; expanse, 11°5; wing, 4°5 to 4°75 ; tail, 2°25, 
slightly forked and the feathers very broad. 
