46 FIKST LIST OF THE BIRDS OF THE SOUTH KONKAN. 



tained their ultimate destination. Commercially, they must 

 rank as a very third sort commodity. The nests I got in 

 February were literally swarming with common bugs. 



The rock is very difficult to get at. It can only be approach- 

 ed by a small boat on account of the reefs, and owing to the 

 constant swell during the north-west winds, a landing can only 

 be effected at night, and even then with difficulty. The caves: 

 where the Swiftlets breed opens on a narrow ledge of rock, 

 with a steep drop into the sea, which cannot be climbed from 

 below. To get to the cave you have to scramble up the cliff 

 from the landing place, and be lowered on to the ledge some 

 forty or fifty feet by ropes. Hitherto I have shirked any 

 personal investigation of the mysteries of the cave. From the 

 description given to me it appears to run in about 30 or 40' 

 yards from the sea. The entrance is said to be about 20 to 24 

 feet broad, and the height of the cave to be from 40 to 50 feet. 

 The nests are glued to the rocks close together at a height of 

 from 10 to 20 feet from the ground, and are always out of 

 hand's reach. My shikaree, who collected about seven dozen 

 eggs, fresh and hard-set, said he never found more than two 

 in a nest. 



Whether the birds remain at the rocks all the year round 

 I cannot find out for certain. They were there in large numbers 

 in December 1879. The farmer says that they leave the rocks 

 in the south-w r est monsoon, and come for shelter to the cliffs on 

 the mainland which may or not be true. It is certain, however, 

 that no one has ever yet visited the rocks during the monsoon. 

 Even the lighthouse people on an adjoining rock are com- 

 pletely cut off from all communication with the mainland from 

 June to September. This inaccessibility is especially uu- 

 fortunate, as Mr. Hume, on visiting the rocks in January 

 1875 on his trip to the Laccadives and West Coast, found con- 

 vincing evidence in the shape of fragments of eggs, &c, that 

 they are a regular breeding place for Terns, and perhaps some 

 of the larger Larida. It is singular that Mr. Hume found 

 no traces during his visit of the Swiftlets, no birds and no 

 fragments of nests. Did he visit all the rocks? I cannot help 

 thinking he must have overlooked the particular haunt of the 

 Collocalias. Last December my shikaree — the same man who 

 had brought me nests, eggs and birds in the preceding year, 

 and must know the species well — visited the rocks and reported 

 that there were hundreds flying about. Nor does the con- 

 tractor seem to make a clean sweep of all the nests, as last 

 year I obtained several perfect ones, as good as any he has 

 since shewn me, after he had paid his last visit to the island 

 for the season. I fancy Mr. Hume must have gone to the wrong 



