188 HIRUNDINIDJE. 



firmly cemented to the face of the rock. The lining consists of 

 feathers. The eggs are generally two in number, minutely speckled 

 with claret-coloured spots on a whitish ground, the spots being 

 gathered together in a zone at the larger end. Average length 

 0-77 inch, breadth 0-5." 



In Ceylon, according to Colonel Legge, this Swallow breeds in 

 April, May, and June. 



Mr. W. Theobald makes the following remarks on the breeding 

 of this bird in Tenasserim : " Lays in the second week of April. 

 Eggs three in number, long, ovato-pyriform ; size O77 by 0'52 

 inch ; colour white, spotted and ringed with umber. Nest a saucer 

 of mud ; inner part coarse roots profusely lined with feathers and 

 vegetable down, attached to the under part of snags projecting 

 some 4 feet above the water." 



The eggs of this species closely resemble those of H. rustica, but 

 are decidedly smaller, and are, I think, somewhat less glossy. They 

 are moderately broad ovals, slightly compressed towards one end, 

 have a pinky-white ground, and are very finely speckled and spotted, 

 thinly at the small end, more densely at large end, where there is 

 a tendency to form a zone, with different shades of dull purple and 

 brownish red. In some the markings are comparatively large and 

 coarse, in others excessively minute, and the intensity of the colour 

 of the markings varies much in different specimens. 



In length the eggs vary from 0-64 to 0*77 inch, and in breadth 

 from 0-48 to 0*57 inch ; but the average size is about 0'7 by 

 0'5 inch. 



818. Hirundo smithii, Leach. The Wire-tailed Swallwv. 



Hirundo filifera, Steph., Jerd. B. Ind. i, p. 159. 



Uromitus filifera (Steph.), Hutne, Rough Draft N. fy E. no. 84. 



In the plains of India the Wire-tailed Swallow breeds chiefly 

 in February and March, and again in July, August, and September ; 

 but I have seen eggs as early as January and as late as November. 

 In the lower ranges of the Himalayas, where it breeds up to an 

 elevation of from 4000 to 5000 feet, I have taken the nests both 

 in April and May, and have had eggs sent me in June. 



They breed almost exclusively in the immediate neighbourhood 

 of water, under the cornices of bridges, under culverts beneath 

 which some little pool remains, under overhanging shelves of rock 

 or kunkar, projecting from the faces of stony or earthy river-cliffs, 

 and in cells of buildings overlooking the water. 



The nest is composed exteriorly of mud, and is usually lined 

 with feathers ; in shape, for the most part, about two thirds of a 

 deepish cup. I have a note of two nests which I took at Etawah 

 at a canal-bridge, March 8th, 1867 ; one contained three, the other 

 two eggs. Those of the one nest were ready to hatch off ; those 

 of the other were quite fresh. The shell of the nest was made of 

 pellets of clay. In shape the first was half of a wide cone, blocked 



