2G4 HIRUNDINID.E. 



Hab. Southern India and Ceylon, also British Burmah, Malay Penin- 

 sula, Java, Sumatra, Borneo, the Phillipine Islands, Celebes and some of the 

 further islands. It is recorded from Mynall in Travancore, from Coonoor, 

 Ootacamund (Neilgherries) and Bangalore. In British Burmah it was 

 procured by Mr. Davison at Mergui in Tenasserim. Theobald found them 

 breeding in Tenasserim during April. They not only build under the roofs 

 of bungalows and in verandahs of houses, but also in caves and under boats 

 which are unused. The nests are made of mud, cup-like in shape, and are 

 lined with feathers. The eggs, normally, three in number, are white, speckled 

 with reddish. 



777. HirundO Smithi, Leach , App. to Tucktfs Voyage Congo, 

 p. 407. Hirundo filifera, Steph., Gen. Zool. xiii. p. 78 ; Gray, Gen. B. \. 

 p. 58 ; Bp., Consp. Av. i.p. 338 ; Cab,, Mus. Hein. Th. \. p. 46 ; Jerd., B. Lid,\. 

 p. 159, No. 84; Hume, Sir. F. 1873, p. 164; Adam, t. c. p. 370; Vipan., 

 t. c. p. 495; Hume, Sir. F. 1874, p. 409; Aitken, Sir. F. 1875, p. 212; 

 Butler, t. c. p. 451 ; Fairbk., Sir. F. 1876, p. 254; Wardlaw- Ramsay, Ibis, 

 1877, p. 466 ; Hume andUav., Str. F. 1878, ii. p. 43 ; Davidson and Wenden, 

 Sir. F. 1878, p. 43 ; Hume, Str. F. 1879, p. 84 ; Bingham, t. c. p. 192 ; Doig, 

 t. c. p 370 ; Butler, Cat. B. Sind, fyc., p. 12 ; Vidal, Str. F. 1880, p. 43 ; Reid, 

 Sir. F. 1 88 1, p. 18; Davison, Sir. F. 1882, p. 292; Murray, Vert. ZooL 

 Sind,ip. 102. Hirundo filicauda, Frankl., P.Z.S. 1831, p. 115. Uromitrus 

 filifera, Bp., Rivist. Contemp. Torino, 1857, p. 4; Hume, Nests and Eggs, Ind. 

 B. p. 75; Ball, Str. F. 1874, p. 383; id., Sir. F. 1875, p 289. Uromitrus 

 filiferus, Oates, B. Br. Burmah, i. p. 307. The WIRE-TAILED Sw ALLOW. 



Head deep ferruginous ; lores black ; ear coverts, nape and entire upper 

 surface purplish blue ; wings glossy steel-blue ; tail black, the outer web 

 attenuated and elongated 56 inch beyond the rest, the two centre feathers un- 

 spotted purplish blue ; rest of the feathers with a white spot on the inner web ; 

 under surface of the body white, tinged with pinkish on the breast ; a crescent- 

 shaped patch of feathers on each side of the breast dull purplish blue. Bill 

 black ; feet dark brown. 



Length. 475 to 5-75 inches; wing 4-3; tail 2-85, to end of elongated 

 feathers 4*75. 



Hab. Throughout the greater part of India and Cashmere, also 

 Beloochistan (Quetta) and Afghanistan, extending into Tenasserim on the 

 east and to Sind on the west. Recorded from the Salween River (Tenasserim), 

 Bhamo (Burmah), Bengal, Kumaon, Nepaul, >Behar, Mhow, Madras, 

 Malabar, Deccan, Concan, Mysore, Kattiawar, N.-W. Himalayas, Kurrachee, 

 Sukkur, Kotree, and Cashmere. Breeds in the plains of India during February 

 and March, and again in July, August and September. In the lower ranges 

 of the Himalayas, it breeds up to an elevation of 4,000 to 5,000 feet. 

 Hume records having taken nests in April and May. He adds that they breed 

 exclusively in the neighbourhood of water, under the cornices of bridges 



