374 Lieut. H. R. Kelham on 



^ 



The day being extremely hot, and the tail, slender stems of 

 the trees any thing but inviting, I regret to say I had not 

 sufficient energy to climb up and secure a nest ; however, I 

 shot one of the birds, so as to be quite certain as to their 

 species. It measured 4| inches in length ; irides dark brown ; 

 plumage mouse-broAvn, darkest on the head and wings, Avhich 

 have a faint bluish-green tinge, beneath pale brown. 



CoLLocALiA LiNCHi (Horsf .) . The Edible-nest Swiftlet. 



This tiny Swift is one of the Malayan representatives of 

 the genus CoUocalia, or Edible-iiest-building Swifts, of whose 

 gelatine-like nests, formed of mucus from the bird^s salivary 

 glands, is made the glutinous soup which, with Sharks' fins 

 and other delicacies strange to the European stomach, is 

 found on the dinner-tables of the " upper ten " among the 

 Chinese, though, as the nests cost something like a guinea an 

 ounce, it is only by the wealthy, and probably by them only 

 on great occasions, that this expensive luxury is indulged in. 

 This delicacy tastes rather like ordinary vermicelli soup. I 

 was told that the birds built in eaves on the coast ; the nests 

 adhere to the rocks, often in very precipitous places, and 

 are only obtained at considerable risk to the collectors ; hence 

 the fancy price they fetch. 



My specimens I shot on the island of Singapore, late in 

 August ; but doubtless the species is distributed throughout 

 the Straits. 



Length 4 inches; irides dark brown ; the wings project 1?,- 

 inch beyond the tail ; tarsus | inch ; plumage black, glossed 

 on the upper parts with bluish-green; beneath dusky, the 

 feathers of the belly and vent edged vrith white, presenting a 

 mottled appearance. 



Dendrochelidon KLECHo (Horsf.) . The Malayan Crested 

 Swift. 



My first acquaintance with this species was while travelHng 

 in Perak, where it certainly cannot be put doAvn as common. 

 Early in April, with H.B.M.^s Resident, I visited some tin- 

 mines at a place called Salak, situated at the foot of the range 

 of mountains running about ten miles east of KwalaKangsar. 



