212 THE SWALLOWS AND SWIFTS OF BERAR. 



®je gfirallofos mi Sfoifts of getter. 



By James Aitken. 

 I have never observed the English House Swallow, //. rustica 

 (which is so abundant in Bombay throughout the whole cold 

 season), in Berar. 



The Wire-tailed Swallow, (H. filifera.) 



This species supplies in Berar the place of rustica, which it 

 so strongly resembles in its habits. It seems to be even fonder 

 of water, indeed it rarely leaves it, skimming over the surface 

 with a speed matching that of the Swift, its metallic colours 

 flashing in the sun. It is a permanent resident, and breeds 

 from February till June. The nest is a mere shallow saucer 

 built under a rock or wall, sometimes even an earthy bank at 

 the water side, and it exhibits in the construction all the fore- 

 thought and patience of its English relative. The first nest I 

 watched took four weeks to complete, a narrow layer of mud 

 being added cautiously each day, and left to dry. When this part 

 of the business was complete, a lining of fine grass was added, 

 then one of feathers, and on this were laid three long-shaped 

 ego-s, of a white colour, well spotted with dark reddish brown. 

 I confess to having been guilty of the cruelty of taking two of 

 these for my collection, but the faithful little bird continued 

 still to sit, and I had afterwards the satisfaction of seeing the 

 remaining egg hatched and the young one fledged. Long after 

 they are able to fly, the young are fed in the air by the old 

 birds exactly after the manner of the English Swallow, parents 

 and young circling round and round, and then, with a com- 

 placent twitter, clinging together for an instant, during which 

 the mouthful of insects is transferred from the one to the 

 other. 



The Mosque Swallow, (S. erythropygial) 



This is one of those birds which seem highly to appreciate the 

 advantages of civilisation, and to think, like Cowper's cat, that men 

 take a great deal of trouble to please them. In Berar they have 

 almost discarded the mosques which gave them their name, and 

 have betaken themselves to the culverts of the roads, which are now 

 being constructed all over the country. Wherever a road is 

 made, some of the culverts are sure to be taken possession of, 

 as soon as the rains commence, by pairs of these Swallows, 

 which may be seen darting in at one end and out at the other, 

 or hawking about for flies over the pools of water at the road 

 side ; their flight has, however, nothing of the extreme rapidity 



