176 CTPSELID^. 



their nests are consequently either less valuable, or, in some kinds, 

 not worth collecting. All lay two white, very elongate cylindrico- 

 ovate eggs, and make their nests in caves. During the day the 

 birds hunt about for insects, frequently travelling great distances- 

 for the purpose ; Jerdon relates how the birds at Vingorla Bocks 

 did not return to their roosts till 9 p.m., having been away all day. 

 The flight is rapid. None, so far as is known, are truly migratory, 

 though they wander over considerable distances. The gentis 

 inhabits the greater part of the Oriental and Australian regions. 



Key to the Species. 



a. Abdomen brown like throat and breast. 

 a'. Tarsi naked. 



a". No pale band across rump C.fudphaga, p. 176. 



b". A pale band across rump C.frandca, p. 178. 



V. Tarsi feathered. 



c". Smaller, wing 5; pale rump-band in- 

 distinct C. brevirostris, p. 177. 



d". Larger, wing 5*3 ; pale rump-band dis- 

 tinct C. innominata, p. 177. 



b. Abdomen white ; tarsi naked C. linchi, p. 178. 



1081. Collocalia fuciphaga. The Indian Edible-nest Swiftlet. 



Hirundo fuciphaga, Thunb. Kon. Svensk. Vet.-Ak. nya Handl. xxxiii r 



p. 151, pi. iv (181 2). 

 Hirundo unicolor, Jerdon, Mad. Jour. L. S. xi, p. 238 (1840) ; xiii, 



pt. 1, p. 173 ; xiii, pt. 2, p. 144. 



Cypselus concolor, Blyth, J. A. S. B. xi, p. 886 (1842). 

 Collocalia unicolor, Blyth, J. A. S. B. xiv, pp. 209, 212 ; Hume, S. F. 



i, pp. 295, 296 ; id. Cat. no. 103 ; Hume fy Bourd. S. F. iv, p. 374 ; 



Vidal $ Hume, S. F. ix, p. 44 ; Damson, S. F. x, p. 348 ; Terry, 



ibid. p. 470 ; Barnes, Birds Bom. p. 87 ; Oates in Hume's N. 8f E. 



2nd ed. iii, p. 28. 

 Collocalia nidifica, Gray, Gen. B. i, p. 55 (1845) ; Blyth, Cat. p. 86, pt. ; 



Horsf. $ M. Cat. i, p. 98, pt. ; Jerdon, B. L i, p. 182, pt. 

 Callocalia brevirostris, apud Layard, A. M. N. H. (2) xii, p. 168, 



necMcClell. 

 Collocalia f uciphaga, Wallace, P. Z. S. 1863, p. 384 ; Holdsworth, 



P. Z. S. 1872, p. 420 ; Hartert, Cat. B. M. xvi, p. 498. 

 Collocalia francica, apud Walden, Ibis, 1874, p. 132, partim ; Legge, 



Birds Ceyl. p. 324 ; Morgan, Ibis, 1875, p. 313 ; nee Gmel. 



Coloration. Very dark brown above, almost black, with purplish 

 or greenish gloss on the wings and tail ; rump not paler ; lower 

 parts greyish brown, the feathers sometimes dark-shafted. Tarsi 

 quite naked. 



Irides dark brown (Bourdillon). 



Length about 4-75 ; tail 2-1 ; wing 4-6 ; tarsus -4. The middle 

 tail-feathers are about half an inch short of the outer. 



Distribution. Ceylon and the neighbourhood of the Malabar 

 coast as far north as Vingorla, common on the higher hills, 

 Nilgiris, Anamalis, &c. A few birds of this species have also been 



