376 Lieut. H. R. Kelham on 



cept the rump, which is grey; underparts grey, becoming 

 white on the abdomen and vent. 



In Singapore, late in August, I shot a Crested Swift out 

 of a flock of about twenty as they dashed past in a southerly 

 direction. Could they have been migrating? It was the 

 only time I saAV any of them on the island ; and they did not 

 loiter, but flew straight on in a direct line, as if with a fixed 

 purpose. 



Dendrochelidon comata (Temm.). 



I saw specimens of this curiously plumaged Swift Avhich 

 had been shot near Changhie, Singapore ; mine were killed 

 on Gunong Pulai, Johore. 



Caprimulgus macrurus, Horsf. The Malay Nightjar. 



One of the most common of Malay birds, but more so in 

 cultivated districts than in the thick jungle, though even there 

 it abounds wherever there are roads or clearings. 



About the Singapore roads it is very plentiful of an even- 

 ing, either hawking for the insects which then swarm, or else 

 squatting motionless on the road till almost trodden on, when 

 it rises with a flutter into the air, and, skimming close over 

 the ground, settles again a little further on. During the heat 

 of the day the Nightjar retires to the depths of the jungle, 

 frequenting those parts which are in deep shade ; but towards 

 dusk it sallies forth in search of food, and, particularly on 

 moonlight nights, its monotonous chunk ! chunk ! chunk ! 

 chunk ! is heard on all sides, about the most noticeable of the 

 manj^ strange nocturnal sounds. These peculiar notes have a 

 metallic ring, A^ery like the sound made by throwing a stone 

 on the ice. I never heard the bird utter them while it was 

 flying, occasionally when squatting on the ground, but more 

 often from a post or dead tree — the same bird frequenting the 

 same position night after night, much to one^s annoyance if 

 it happens to select a place near one's bed room- window. 



When I was in camp at Kwala Kangsar, one of these 

 Nightjars came every evening to an old seat of tree-trunks 

 within ten yards of my hut, and made such a ''chunking'-' as to 

 render sleep impossible. So, after putting up with it for several 



