372 Lieut. H. E. Kelliam on 



jecture as to what they were feeding on proved correct ; for, 

 on dissecting the one I shot, its stomach contained five large 

 beetles, nothing else. I looked most carefully for traces of 

 fish, thinking that possibly the prickly cactus-like bristles 

 which grew all over the bird^s toes were intended by nature 

 to assist it in securing slippery prey ; but apparently such is 

 not the case, unless it feeds exclusively on water-beetles and 

 aquatic insects, which would certainly be difficult to hold. 



This bird, a male, measured 11. inches in length; irides 

 yellow ; entire plumage dull brown, rather rufous beneath ; 

 some of the feathers of the breast and belly white-edged ; 

 tail crossed by five dark bars ; under tail-coverts white ; legs 

 feathered to the toes, which were covered with stiff" bristles. 



HiRUNDO GUTTURALIS, Scop. 



The Swallow is common throughout the Straits, and iden- 

 tical with the Chinese race, as specimens I shot at Singapore 

 were exactly similar to others which I got near Hong Kong ; 

 nor does it appear to differ much from the well-known 

 European H. rustica, unless perhaps in being slightly smaller, 



Ch^tura leucopygialis, Blyth. The Small Spine-tailed 

 Swift. 



I obtained this bird in Singapore in July 1879; also in 

 Perak. 



Ch^tura gigantea (Temra.). 



The Large Malay Spine-tailed Swift is apparently distri- 

 buted in considerable numbers throughout the country, as I 

 met with it in all the Straits Settlements, also in Johore, 

 Perak, Larut; and, far up the Moar river, at Sagamet, in 

 the very heart of the Peninsula, I saw large flocks of them 

 hawking over the river. I shot my first specimen one morn- 

 ing in February. 



While walking along the flat sandy beach bordering the 

 Perak river near Saiyong, a party of eight of these large 

 Swifts darted past at a tremendous pace, so fast that one 

 heard the shish ! of their wings, and the next instant they 

 were almost out of sight, but, circling round, again came 

 within shot, which I took advantage of and secured one. It 



