BIRDS IN BRITISH GARHWAL, 153 
Chelidon nepalensis (807).—Hodgson’s Martin. 
A colony of these birds breeds every year on some cliffs at 7,000’ elevation in 
the vicinity of Lohba in central Garhwal. In 1913 I obtained eggs on 19th June, 
but in many nests the young had then already hatched. There were from 50 to 
100 pairs of birds breeding together here, and in one favoured spot I counted 
50 nests built over a space of about two square yards, most of the nests actually 
touching one another. The cliff where the birds were nesting is in the middle of 
banj (Quercus incana) forest, and during the winter it is frequented by rock 
pigeons. The nests were placed on parts of the cliff where the surface shelved 
slightly outwards from below. They were shaped like large mud saucers with a 
small hole to one side. A specimen which I shot was identified for me at the 
British Museum. Blanford’s description of this bird reads “ Bill brown, paler 
at gape ;” but in my description I have recorded “ Bill black. Inside mouth 
nearly white.” : 
Piyonoprogne rupestris (810).—The Crag-Martin. 
Towards the end of May 1914 I found two freshly built nests of this species 
along the Girthi valley in Painkhanda Malla at an elevation of 10,500’. They 
were unfortunately built against an overhanging rock in such a position that I 
was unable to reach them. In August 1916 these birds were very common at 
13,500’ elevation near the border of Tibet. 
Hirundo nepalensis (822).—Hodgson’s Striated Swallow. 
During the breeding season this bird is found all over the outer and central 
ranges at least as far north as the Pindar valley. On 10th June I found a nest 
with 4 eggs placed against the lower surface of a large overhanging boulder on 
a steep hill side where the boulder was half hidden by bushy scrub, and again 
on 18th June I found a nest with 3 hard set eggs in a bungalow verandah, the 
nest being placed in the angle formed by the verandah roof with the outer wall. 
The first of these nests was at 4,000’ elevation and the second at nearly 7,000’. 
The nests were retort-shaped and 10” to 12” long and were lined with a few scraps 
of dry grass and feathers. The parents of both were identified for me at the 
British Museum. 
Anthus rosaceus (850).—Hodgson’s Pipit. 
During the breeding season this bird is found in abundance all over the high- 
level grazing grounds which lie above the limits of tree forest along the outer 
slopes of the high snowy ranges between 11,000’ and 13,000’ elevation. I did not 
however come across it in the dry interior hills situated along the Dhauli valley. 
Six nests with eggs were found on varying dates between 26th May and 26th 
June. The nest is a shallow cup of dry grass (lined with hair of the musk deer 
in one of the nests) placed on the ground in a slight depression beneath a tuft of 
grass or occasionally half hidden by some small shrub. The parents in two 
cases feigned a broken wing when flushed from the nest. One clutch was res- 
tricted to two eggs only, but all the others contained three. The clutches of 3 
eggs each averaged as follows :—°85” x ‘60’, 85” x 61”, °87” x °61”, °80° 
x +59” and °83” x +60”. The eggs are white tinged with grey or brown and 
more or less thickly marked all over with shades of colour varying from sepia to 
chocolate brown. 
Oreocorys sylvanus (853).—The Upland Pipit. 
This pipit occurs in considerable numbers practically throughout the hills. 
Steep grassy slopes interspersed with bushes or broken up by rocky ground are 
its favourite haunts, and it is also common in open chir (Pinus longifolia) forest 
where there is always abundance of grass. This bird has a characteristic mono- 
tonous song of two rather prolonged notes which might be written “ See-saw. ” 
Two nests containing eggs were found on 13th April and 12th May. 
Gecinus squamatus (946).—The West-himalayan Scaly-bellied Green-wood- 
pecker. 
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