THREE UNPUBLISHED PAPERS BY BLYTH. 305 



August. They kept a steadj' easterl}' direction. I afterwards," 

 he continues, " saw at Travancore single birds fl3'ing about at an 

 immense height with great rapidity. I saw them also on the top 

 of the Nilgiris, towards the edges of the hills ; and at Madura, 

 flying in small parties every evening, just before sunset, towards 

 the east coast, ajjparently from the hills in the neighbourhood, as 

 I did not see them during the daytime. Their flight is amazingly 

 rapid." 



C. viTTATUS, Jardine &■ Selby, 111. Orn., 3nd series, pi. 39. — 

 Size and form of the common British Swift (C ajms, which spe- 

 cies, it may be remarked, is a common summer visitant in 

 Afghanistan) ; but distinguished from it by its blacker colouring, 

 narrow white band above the tail, widening on each side, and by 

 the duller albescent hue of the throat gradually diminishing much 

 further down, the extreme tips of all the feathers of the lower 

 parts being commonly albescent. Wing 7 in. ; span of foot f in. 

 This bird varies, however, somewhat in size. Its claws are of a 

 dusky-brown colour. 



It is common about Penang, and extends its range eastward 

 to China. From the Australian Cj^acificus (Latham), v. aiistralis, 

 Gould, it seems to differ little ; but, according to Mr. Gould's 

 figure, the latter has the wide throat pure and well defined, and a 

 broader white band on the rump. 



C. LEUCONYX, Blyth, J. A. S. xii. 312. — Very similar to the 

 last, but smaller, with a much smaller foot and white claws. Tail 

 forked to the depth of f in., its outermost feather 2g- in. ; wing 

 6 to 6 J in. ; span of foot |- in. 



A rare species, but extensively diffused over India proper. 

 Mr. Jerdon procured it in the Deccan, and has also obtained it 

 from Malabar. An individual flew into an open room within a 

 few miles of Calcutta, which is the only specimen we have seen 

 from Bengal. In its flight it would be conspicuously distinguished 

 from the next by its distinctly forked tail and much longer wings ; 

 but though many times looked for, we have never seen it in the 

 air. Perhaps it ordinarily flies very high, in which case the time 

 to seek for it would be in gloomy weather, or towards evening, 

 when all the tribe hawk nearer the ground. 



C. AFFiNis, Gray, Hardw. 111. Ind. Zool. ; C. nipalensisy 

 Hodgson, J. A. S. v. 780 ; C. montanus, Jerdon, Madr. Journ. 

 xiii. 144 ; probably Hirunclo fancica, Gm., apud Griffith's 



