200 



and often some favourite site is apparently the bone of contention 

 between several pairs. 



" I once found, a few miles out of Ooty, several nests of this 

 bird placed on the underside of a large overhanging rock, and 

 although the breeding-season had long passed (it was, I think, in 

 the early part of November that I found these nests), I never- 

 theless climbed up to where the nests were, to see if there were 

 any addled eggs. After examining a few of the nests, I came to 

 one which had the tubular entrance walled up, and the mud per- 

 fectly hard and dry. On breaking away a part of the nest I found 

 a dead bird in it, which had come quite to the sealed end of the 

 tubular neck, and had there died ; the nest contained three old 

 eggs, of which the contents had partially dried up. I can only 

 account for this bricking, or, I should say, walling up of the 

 entrance to the nest, by supposing that some of the other birds 

 had coveted and failed to obtain this site for their nests. It is 

 only natural to suppose that more than one pair were concerned 

 in the business, as it would have taken at least one bird to keep 

 the bird from leaving its nest, and another to keep its mate away 

 from the nest, and probably another, or several other pairs to close 

 the entrance." 



Dr. Jerdon (who, however, did not discriminate this and the 

 preceding species) states that " a few couples, at all events, breed 

 in the south of India ; for I have seen their nests on a rock at the 

 Dimhutty waterfall on the Nilghiris, twenty or thirty together. 

 I have found one or two nests in deserted outhouses in Mysore; 

 and they are said to breed very constantly on large buildings, old 

 mosques, pagodas, and such like ; hence the native name of Mosque- 

 Swallow in the south of India ; but I rather think there is a con- 

 siderable increase of their numbers during the cold weather, and it 

 was no doubt at the time of their northward migration that Colonel 

 Sykes saw them in such vast numbers at Poona. The nest, as 

 figured by Pallas and observed by myself, is a spherical or oval- 

 shaped mud nest, with a long neck or tubular entrance, of the kind 

 which is called a retort nest, and the eggs are white, faintly marked 

 with rusty-coloured spots." 



Miss Cockburn, writing from Kotagherry, says : " I only once 

 found a nest, and this was on the 9th April. It was constructed 

 under a shelving rock, raised so high from the ground as to allow 

 of my walking under it. The cave, if I may so call it, was in a 

 wild, lonely locality, suggestive more of bears than Swallows. 



" The nest, which was built of clay, was about | foot long, the 

 entrance being at one end. It was warmly lined with feathers, 

 and contained three pure white eggs, very long in shape. As 

 I wished to know if the number would be increased, they were left 

 for a couple of days. On visiting the spot again, I found the 

 length of the nest had been increased considerably, the eggs being 

 left at the far end ; but as there were no more than three, they 

 were taken possession of." 



