178 



largish aperture, very close, one above the other iii many instances 

 Young birds appeared fledged in June when I passed. Birds fre- 

 quented breeding-places at dusk in great numbers. The hollows 

 are almost overhanging the old road." 



809. Cotile sinensis (J. E. Gray). The Indian Sand-Martin. 



Cotile sinensis (Gray), Jerd. B. 2nd. i, p. 164 ; Hume, Rouyh Draft 

 N. # E. no. 89. " 



The Indian Sand-Martin breeds in holes in sandy banks of rivers 

 from November to February in some parts of the country, and 

 during April and May in others, and again at both periods in 

 others. 



Mr. Blyth remarks (Journal As. Soc. xvi, p. 119): "I have 

 found both newly-laid eggs and young ready to fly in the begin- 

 ning of December (at Calcutta), and also at the end of February. 

 The nest-holes vary in depth from 1 J foot to considerably more, 

 according as the banks are more or less hard ; and the nest itself 

 is composed of dry grass, with occasionally a few feathers in the 

 lining ; the eggs are pure white, like those of C. riparia" 



Colonel G. F. L. Marshall, writing from Saharunpoor, says that 

 this species " builds in the first half of April in a hole about 4 

 feet into a bank, lining the end of the hole with grass and a few 

 feathers, and lays five pure white eggs." I myself have taken 

 the eggs in May on the Jhelum, and on the Jumna in the Etawah 

 District in February and April, but I have never found more than 

 four eggs. 



Major C. T. Bingham writes : " At Allahabad and at Delhi I 

 have found nests of this little Sand-Martin in eight months out of 

 the twelve, viz. in January, February, March, April, and May 

 (one nest at Allahabad on the 3rd May, containing two very hard- 

 set eggs and two young ones), and again in October, November, 

 and December. They lay in holes excavated by themselves in the 

 sandy banks of rivers, and nullahs, these being from 1 to 3 feet 

 deep and 2 inches in diameter, ending in a nest-chamber slightly 

 larger than the tunnel, lined with straw or grass-roots, with a 

 layer of soft feathers on which the eggs, ordinarily four or five in 

 number, lie." 



From the Sambhur Lake, Mr. R. M. Adam tells us : " The 

 little Bank-Martin is very common about this. I obtained a nest 

 on the loth April with two very hard-set eggs. The nest was 

 found in a hole in a bank, and was a compactly-built cup-shaped 

 structure : outer diameter 4 inches ; egg-receptacle a little over 2 

 inches. The nest was made of grass and fibres well rounded 

 together ; the outer portion of the nest was of a coarser quality 

 than the lining, but made of the same material; depth of egg- 

 cavity | inch. 



" In Oudh I took a nest of this bird on the 23rd April. The 

 nest was composed of coarse grass loosely put together, and had a 

 lining of biggish feathers. Its diameter measured 3| inches." 



