CO TILE 273 



402. CRAG-MARTIX. 

 COTILE RUPESTRI8. 



Cotile rupestris, Scop. Ann. i. Hist. Nat. p. 167 (1769) ; (Naum.) vi. 

 p. 91, Taf. 146, fig*. 1, 2 ; (Gould), B. of E. ii. pi. 56 ; Dresser, iii. 

 p. 513, pi. 164 ; Sharpe, Cat. B. Br. Mus. x. p. 109 ; Gates, F. Brit. 

 Ind. Birds, ii. p. 274. 



Hirondelle de rocher French ; Audorinha das rochas, Portug. ; 

 Golondrina sylvestre, Span. ; Rondine montana, Ital. ; Gomui 

 strichok, Russ. 



ad. (Asia Minor). Upper parts mouse-brown, rather darker on the 

 crown ; wings and tail dull brown ; all the rectrices except the two middle, 

 and the outermost on each side with a large oval white spot on the inner web ; 

 throat and breast dirty white with a few dull brown streaks on the chin 

 and upper throat ; rest of under parts rusty ash-brown ; under tail-coverts 

 darker ashy brown ; bill dark horn ; feet brown ; iris dark brown. 

 Oulmen 0'48, wing 5'25, tail 2'25, tarsus 0'45 inch. Sexes alike. The 

 young has the upper parts darker, the back and scapulars margined with 

 dull rufous, the secondaries edged with white, the upper tail-coverts with 

 dull white margins, and the under parts duller. 



Hob. Southern Europe ; North Africa ; ranging through Asia 

 Minor east in Asia, to the Himalayas, Tibet, Mongolia, and N. 

 China, and is resident almost throughout its range. 



In general habits it does not differ much from its allies, and 

 like them feeds on insects which it captures on the wing. Its 

 flight is more fluttering, and less direct than that of the Swallow, 

 and it frequently rests, perching on the dead branch of a tree 

 or on a cliff. It frequents mountain gorges though not at 

 great altitudes. Its note is a low ch or chih. It breeds late in 

 May placing its nest in the roof of a cave and is not gregarious, 

 more than one or two nests being seldom found in the same 

 cave. The nest is a shallow cup of mud open at the sides, 

 rather small for the size of the bird, and is lined with wool, 

 thistle-down, and feathers. The eggs, 5 or 6 in number, resemble 

 pale varieties of those of H. rustica^ being white profusely 

 spotted, chiefly at the larger end, with pale greyish brown 

 surface-spots and a few indistinct shell-markings. 



403. PALE CRAG-MARTIN. 

 COTILE OBSOLETA. 



Cotile obsoleta Cab. Mus. Hein. i. p. 50 (1850) ; Dresser, iii. p. 521, 

 pi. 165 ; Sharpe, Cat. B. Br. Mus. x. p. Ill ; Gates, F. Brit. Ind. 

 Birds, ii. p. 275 ; Giglioi, Axif. Ital. p. 190. 



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