Letters, Announcements, §c. 231 



parties; but in Penang the prevailing Swallow was the Hirundo 

 javanica, Sparrm., a pair of which had a nest on a punkah- 

 rope in the upper story of the small hotel near the waterfall, 

 It was built on a narrow wooden girdle that encircled the 

 rope, about a foot and a half from the ceiling, looked much 

 like a Common Swallow's nest, was open at the top, and 

 contained three young ones. The eggs, the attendant told 

 me, had been whitish, with pink spots. The punkah had not 

 been pulled since the birds took to the site. 



Numbers of Cypselus subfuscatus and C. bataviensis were 

 flying about overhead ; and occasionally a Macropteryw co- 

 matus dashed by the side of a hill, its lovely metallic colouring 

 glistening vividly. 



We procured a Merops quinticolor $ . Bill black ; tongue 

 long and deeply cleft. Inner mouth yellowish flesh-colour. 

 Testes small. Stomach contained small flies. Legs and feet 

 dirty light brick-colour, claws black. 



From a birdstuffer at Penan g, among other birds, I bought 

 a pair of Dacelo concreta, Temm. The bills of these were a 

 fine rich ochreous buff on the under mandible and edge of 

 upper, and the female much like the figure given for a young- 

 bird in Sharpens monograph. 



At sea, off Cochin China, on the 14th May, a female Tringa 

 salina (Pall.) flew on board, thin and half starved. Bill and 

 legs, toes and claws, deep bronzed black. Eggs in the ovary 

 few and small. Land not visible. 



On the 15th May, off Hainan (still no land), a Calobates 

 melanops (Pall.) appeared on deck and caught flies. Several 

 Swallows about the ship (Hirundo gutturalis, Scop.). Flocks 

 of white Gannets about, stopping and hovering over disturbed 

 water, roughened by the surface-gambolling of shoals of fish. 

 The fish kept jumping, and the Gannets charging down 

 amongst them. Some of the Gannets followed the ship. A 

 specimen was captured, and shows the species to be Sula jns- 

 catrix (L.). Yours, &c, 



Robert Swinhoe. 



