AND IN PARTS OF WYNAAD AND SOUTHERN MYSORE. 317 
specimen, a male (shot Ist May,) and the following are its 
dimensions, &c., taken in the flesh: —Length, 4:4; expanse, 10:4 ; 
tail, 165; wing, 4-2; tarsus, 0-4; bill from gape, 0:5 ; weight, 
0°45 oz. Bill and claws black ; legs and feet purplish; irides 
deep brown. é 
The trivial name given to this species by Dr. Jerdon, “the 
White-rumped Spinetail,” is not a happy one. The name applies 
much better to C. leucopygialis, Blyth, from Tenasserim and the 
Malayan Peninsula, which has a pure white rump, where- 
asin the present species the rump is not white but pale 
ashy. 
96.—Chetura indica, Hume. The Large Spine- 
tail. 
The large Spinetail occurs only at odd intervals on the 
Nilghiris and their slopes, appearing in parties of from about 
a dozen to fifty or more, but they seldom remain in sight more 
than a few minutes, disappearing, not to be seen again, perhaps 
for months. They generally put in an appearance from the 
east, and disappear in a westerly direction. 
Though [ have often seen this species about Coonoor and 
Ootacamund, I have never shot a specimen, so it is just possible 
.that I may be wrong in my identification, and that it is 
96bis— Chetura gigantea, Hass., that really occurs, or both 
species may occur.* 
98.—Cypsellus melba, Zin. The Alpine Swift. 
The Alpine Swift is not very common on the Nilghiris, but 
there seems to be a permanent colony located at St. Catherine’s 
Falls at Kotagherry, and a few are generally to be seen at the 
falls at Kartary and Pykarra. I did not notice either this 
species or the large Spinetail in the Wynaad or Mysore. 
100.—Cypsellus affinis, J. #. Gr. The Eastern 
Swift. 
The only place I met with this Swift was at the dak 
bungalow at Bandipur, in Mysore, and there the verandah was 
tenanted by many hundreds. I did not notice it elsewhere 
during my trip either in the Wynaad or Mysore, and I have 
never seen it anywhere on the Nilghiris. At Bandipur they 
had only just commenced to build their nests, This was on the 
24th of May. 
This month, January 1883, I have seen this Swift on several 
occasions in the immediate vicinity of Ootacamund. 
eS, eS 
* All our numerous specimens from the Nilghiris, Wynaad, Coimbatore, and ‘Ban- 
galore are indica,—ED., 8. F. 
