90 THE BIRDS OP CALCUTTA. 



common Chimney Swallow (Hirundo rustica) which also is 

 found here, and breeds in the Himalayas, does turn up 

 sometimes, especially in the cold weather. Perhaps the 

 Swifts have had something to say in the matter, for, as I 

 hinted above, they are rather too much for swallows when 

 the interests of the two happen to clash, the swallow's 

 nice mud nest being a great temptation to a dishonest 

 Swift. However, Swifts and swallows of numerous spe- 

 cies do exist out here together, so that probably as a rule 

 they do not get in each .other's way. The English Swift, 

 for instance, occurs in the hills and Kashmir, and in Cal- 

 cutta itself the little Palm Swift (Tachornis batassiensis) 

 may be found as well as the House Swift. The Palm Swift 

 is a considerably cmaller and slenderer bird than the domes- 

 tic species, with a well-forked tail and plain drab plumage 

 all over ; it is not a very rapid flyer, and keeps near the 

 palms, on the fronds of which it fastens its tiny cup-like 

 nest of plant-down or feather, stuck together and fastened 

 in one of the furrows of the leaf by the usual salivary ce- 

 ment. There was a small colony inhabiting a tall fan- 

 palm in the Museum compound. 



Wherever the fari-palm grows in India the Palm Swift 

 takes up its abode, but the house bird, not being so fastidi- 

 ous in its requirements, is at home wherever there are 

 cliffs or buildings in Africa and India, and the intervening 

 countries ; indeed, I first made its acquaintance at Mom- 

 basa in one of the offices of the British East Africa Com- 

 pany nearly a dozen years ago. East of India the House- 

 Swift is blacker and sports a longer forked tail, and so 

 claims rank as a distinct species (Cypselus subfurcatus), 



