Colics 569 



nests were at the farther end, thickly clustered upon the roof and the upper parts 

 of the walls. The nests were often so close to one another that the edges were 

 adherent, three or four nests being stuck together in one mass." 



The Swiftlets appear to normally lay two eggs, and when a greater number 

 are found in a nest, as is sometimes the case, they are probably the product of 

 two birds. 



Tree Swifts. The pretty Tree or Crested Swifts, of which some seven species 

 are known, make up the third group of Swifts (Macropterygina). They are 

 mostly somewhat larger birds as Swifts go, ranging between six and a half to 

 some thirteen inches in length, and are distinguished in a number of marked 

 particulars from the other members of the family. Among other points it may 

 be mentioned that the sexes are different in plumage, and the coloring of the 

 young is quite different from that of the adult. They are provided with a feather 

 crest on the head and have the outer tail-feathers very much elongated, while 

 the entire plumage is softer than in the other Swifts. They are found from 

 India throughout the Malay Archipelago and Papuasia, and take the best-known 

 of their common names that of Tree Swifts from the fact of their nesting 

 in trees. They do not, however, nest in holes in trees, but build a frail nest of 

 bits of bark, cemented together by the birds' saliva and attached to the side of 

 a small, usually dead limb often less than one inch in diameter. " Against the 

 side of this the nest is glued, so that the upper margin of the nest is in a line with 

 the upper surface of the branch. The nest itself is half of a rather deep saucer, 

 one and three-quarter inches in diameter, and about one-half inch in depth 

 internally." Only a single egg is laid and this a rather large one, being white, 

 without gloss. 



Of the habits of the Indian Crested Swift (Macropteryx coronata], Mr. Hume 

 says it is commonly seen in small parties about groves and pieces of water in or 

 near forests, flying elegantly but not very rapidly and often perching on dead 

 limbs or at the tops of trees. It has a peculiarly Parrot-like call, and makes 

 the usual minute saucer-shaped nest, only about one and a half inches in diam- 

 eter, of flakes of bark and sometimes a few feathers. The nest is so small 

 that it is seen with difficulty and the Swift sits on the branch with its body over 

 the nest. Our illustration shows the Malay Crested Swift (M. longipennis), 

 with its tiny nest and egg; it is a native of the Malay Peninsula. 



THE COLIES 



(Suborder Colii) 



The little group of African birds known as Colies or Mouse-birds has fared 

 variously at the hands of systematists. At one time they were thought to belong 

 to the passerine group and to be related to the Tits, which they do somewhat 

 resemble outwardly; but later when their anatomy came to be more carefully 

 examined, their affinity was deemed to be closest with the Plantain-eaters, and 

 finally they have found a present resting place among the Roller-like birds, with 



