40 



PJCARIAN BIRDS. 



Tree-Swifts. 



manao-er of which informed us that he had manured one hundred acres of coffee 

 with it during that season." 



A third subfamily {Macropterygincti) is represented by the five 

 species of the genus Macropteryx, which ranges from India, through 

 Burma and the Malayan Archipelago, to the Solomon Islands. They present 

 such marked differences from the rest of the swifts that they have been 



separated as a distinct family. 

 The plumage is much softer than 

 in the majority of the swifts, and 

 thus shows an approach to that of 

 the goatsuckers. The sexes are 

 different in colour, and the young 

 very distinct from the adults ; 

 whereas in the other swifts there 

 is ver}^ little difference between 

 the plumage of the young and the 

 old birds. The head is generally 

 crested, and some of the species 

 have elongated whisker-streaks of 

 white. The metatarsus is shorter 

 than the third toe, which is not 

 the case in other swifts, while the 

 liinder margin of the breast-bone 

 lias two distinct perforations : in 

 addition to which the nesting- 

 habits are quite peculiar. Writing 

 on this subject, Mr. K. Thompson 

 observes that " it is not in the 

 high or deep forest that the bird 

 breeds, but in scattered jungle, 

 usually covering low stony hills 

 and ridges. The nest in this 

 particular case was in a tree quite 

 by itself, with only a few others 

 in the neighbourhood scattered 

 about here and there. M3' attention 

 was directed to the male bird, who 

 was trying his best to dislodge a 

 dove from a tree near to the one on which I ultimately found the nest. I 

 knew that there must be a nest somewhere near, and soon caught sight of the 

 female sitting transversely across a thin dead bough, the tiny nest, glued on to 

 the side of this branch, being as usual scarcely perceptible from below. I 

 have seen two other nests of this swift in this neighbourhood, each containing a 

 tolerably well-fledged young one. The nests in these instances also were placed on 

 Bosivellia trees. To the best of my belief they never lay more than one egg in the 

 nest." Mr. Hume adds that " the stem to which the nest was attached is about 0*8 



LOXG-WINGED TKEE-SWIFT (i liat 



