132 A CONTRIBUTION TO THE ORNITHOLOGY 
blossom; they said that the nests were placed in the clefts of 
rocks, near the river. The Turki name for this species is Tagh 
Karloghach—‘ Mountain Swallow, and I need scarcely add 
that it was never seen in the plains. 
99A.—Cypselus,? pekinensis, Swinhoe. 
8. Yarkand, 3rd May.—Length, 6°5 ; expanse, 15°7; wing, 
6:7; tail, 2°6; tarsus, 0:4; bill, from gape, 0°65; closed wings 
exceed tail, 1°7 ; weight, 1-2 oz. 
Bill, black ; irides, dark brown; legs and toes, dusky ; claws, 
black. ‘Testes, large. 
@. Yarkand, 5th May.—Length, 7:0; expanse, 15°8; wing, 
6:8 ; tail, 3:1; tarsus, 0'4; closed wings exceed tail, 1:0; bill, 
from gape, 0°75; weight, 1°35 oz. 
Bill, black; irides, dark brown; toes, dusky ; claws, black. 
Ova, very small. 
This Swift was first noticed flying over the Fort at Yarkand 
on the 10th April; after that it was seen daily near the Fort 
and City until the end of July when it seemed to have disap- 
peared. These birds always kept near their roosting places in 
the holes and crevices of the mud walls of the City and Fort, 
circling and flying about in the mornings and evenings, and 
repairing to their nests during the heat of the day and for the 
night. Their flight was strong and rapid, and when breeding 
they often made a shrill screaming noise. I caught one of the 
Swifts in its roosting place, and placed it on level ground to see 
how it would be able to fly off. It took an awkward tumbling 
run for a few yards, and then got on the wing pretty easily. 
On the 3lst May I found a nest of this species containing two 
egos. The nest was in a narrow hole, so small that one’s hand 
could with difficulty be introduced into it, in the thick mud 
wall on the north side of the Residency compound. The hole 
was about twenty feet above the level of the ground, and ran 
back horizontally for about a foot. The eggs were placed on a 
sort of cushion composed of feathers, hair and wool. One egg 
was taken, the contents of which were found to be quite fluid ; 
it was spotless white with a faint roseate tinge before it was 
blown, and had no gloss. In shape it is a long narrow oval, 
pointed at one end and measures 0°99 in length by 0°6 in 
breadth. The Turki name for this Swift is Kirich Karloghach 
“the Sabre Swallow.’ 
99 dis.—Cypselus acuticauda, Blyth. 
g. Yarkand, 8th July.—Length, 6°55 ; expanse, 15°5; wing, 
63; tail, 2-9; tarsus, 0:37; bill, from gape, 0°78; closed 
wings exceed tail, 1:1; weight, 1:4 oz. 
