4 BIRDS OF BRITISH BURMAH. 



403. CYPSELUS INFUMATUS. 

 THE EASTERN PALM-SWIFT. 



Cypselus infumatus, Sdater, P. Z. S. 1865, p. 602 ; Jerdon, Ibis, 1871, p. 355, 

 pi. x. ; Hume, Nests and Eggs, p. 88 ; Salvad. Ucc. Born. p. 119 ; Hume, S. F. 

 jii p. 44 j Wold, in El. B. Burm. p. 85 ; David et Oust. Ois. Chine, p. 70 ; 

 Hume 8f Dav. S. F. vi. p. 48 ; Hume, S. F. viii. p. 85 ; Bingham, S. F. viii. p. 192, 

 ix. p. 149. Cypselus tectorum, Jerd. Proc. As. Soc. Beng. 1870, p. 61 ; 

 Godwin- Austen, J. A. S. B. xxxix. pt. ii. p. 94. Cypselus tinus, Swinhoe, 

 Ibis, 1870, p. 90. 



Description. Male and female. Forehead, crown, nape, back, wings 

 and tail very dark brown or nearly black ; rump and upper tail-coverts 

 paler ; sides of the head and the whole lower plumage smoky brown. 



Bill and feet black ; claws dark brown ; eyelids plumbeous ; iris brown. 



Length 5 '2 inches, tail 2' 3, wing 4-6, tarsus '3, bill from gape *55 ; fork 

 of the tail about *9. The female is of the same size. 



Mr. Blyth states, in his Catalogue of the Birds of Burmah, that 

 C. palmarum, a close ally of C. infumatus, abounds in the Indo-Chinese 

 countries (in which, no doubt, he includes Burmah), and that C. infumatus 

 has not hitherto been detected within the limits of British Burmah. The 

 exact reverse, however, appears to be the case. Mr. Davison and Capt. 

 Bingham in Tenasserim, and Capt. Wardlaw Ramsay and myself in Pegu, 

 found only C. infumatus and not C. palmarum. This latter may, of course, 

 occur in Burmah, but I consider it very doubtful; and I cannot help 

 thinking that Mr. Blyth was, in this instance, labouring under a mistake. 

 I shall therefore admit only C. infumatus into this work. 



C. palmarum, or rather C. batassiensis, differs in being of a much 

 lighter colour ; in having a much longer tail, its total length being about 

 27 inches; in having the fork of the tail much deeper, about T3 inches 

 as against '9 inch in C. infumatus ; and in having a rather longer wing. 



The Eastern Palm-Swift is generally distributed over British Burmah 

 and is a resident species. 



It is found in Assam and in the hill-tracts of Eastern Bengal, extending 

 into China ; and Dr. Tiraud gives it from Cochin China. It also occurs 

 in the Malay peninsula and in Borneo. 



This Swift is very abundant throughout Burmah, being found in small 

 flocks flying at no great height from the ground, and it is a constant resi- 

 dent. Capt. Bingham found the nest of this species in Tenasserim in April, 

 and Mr. Theobald in Pegu in June and July. It is usually a tiny cup of 

 vegetable down and fine feathers agglutinated with saliva to the frond of a 

 toddy-palm. In the hill-tracts of Eastern Bengal this bird makes its nest 

 on the palm-leaves used by the people for the roofs of their houses. The 

 eggs are generally three in number and white in colour. 



