MISCELLANEOUS NOTES. 283 
Three or four eggs are laid which are cream with a dense ring of yellowish 
brown and grey spots towards the big end. 
The nest is often attached to drooping branches of shrubs or trees overhanging 
a stream. That in the photo was in such a position, the plant to which it is 
attached being Heptapleurum venulosum, an epiphytic shrub. The photograph 
was taken by Mr. C. E. C. Cox. 
B. B. OSMASTON, .1.F.s. 
Pacumarat, July 1921. 
No. XIX.—THE CRESTED SWIFT (MACROPTERYX CORONAT A). 
The Indian Crested Swift differs in several respects from most other swifts 
and may be easily recognized by its conspicuous crest and long pointed tail. 
In size it is nearly as big as the European Swift, and in colour it is ashy 
above and white below. The male bird has in addition a chestnut moustachial 
stripe. 
» 
zs 
This swift is widely distributed in India and Burma but is nowhere very 
numerous. They frequent open forest, and especially glades in the forest 
near water. They are found usually in pairs but sometimes when feeding 
they may be seen in larger numbers. They are resident and non-migratory 
so far as my experience goes, being found at all seasons of the year even as far 
north as Dehra Dun. 
The nest is a small shallow half cup fixed in the side of a small branch (often 
a dead branch is selected). It is composed of little steps of bark cemented 
together by the saliva of the bird, and is only just large enough to contain the 
single egg which, as shown in the accompanying photo, projects well above 
the level of the top edge of the nest. 
The birds lay in March and April. The nest in the photo was taken near 
Allapilli (Chanda) in the Central Provinces. 
The birds were observed commencing this nest on March 19th ; on March 26th 
the nest was apparently completed but the egg was not laid till April 1]th. 
The tree selected was a Dhaura (Anogeissus latifolia) and the nest was attached 
to a dry branch about 40 feet from the ground. 
It was impossible to get within 8 feet of the nest, and the egg was secured by 
pushing it gently out of the nest with a long thin stick tipped with cotton wool 
and used as a billiard cue, the egg being caught in a small butterfly net held 
