MISCELLANEOUS NOTES. 62^ 



horizontal branch about 15 to 20 feet from the ground, in:a big shady shola 

 •with little or no undergrowth, and was composed of quantities of moss lined 

 with blackish roots, a most beautiful and compact structure. 



The Nilghiri House-Swallow — {Hirundo javanica) is partial to certain 

 localities, where it is more or less abundant. It seems to prefer the neigh- 

 bourhood of streams and gulies. Its nesting habits are very similar to those 

 of the Wire-tailed Swallow (^Hirundo smithii), building a nest of mud-pellets 

 in a house, on rocks in streams, under bridges and similar places which it 

 lines with featht^rs, stiaw, etc. They are apparently early breeders, as I only 

 found youDg in their nests in April and never came on eggs, which was a 

 disappointment. 



The Nilghiri Pipit — ■{Anthus nilgiriensis) seems to confine itself more to the 

 higher and wilder peaks and hills. I found a nest on the 31st May, contain- 

 ing 2 fresh eggs, I left them a day but no more being laid, took them. The 

 eggs look like very heavy thunder clouds, a deep grey being the prevaili ng 

 color which is all splotched and clouded. The neot was situated on some slo- 

 ping ground, not far from the side of the road, in fact my attention was drawn 

 to it by the bird being disturbed at our passing. It was well sheltered and like 

 all larks^ nei^ts : what took my fancy was a small fern situated just at its en- 

 trance or rather over it, which kept it well shaded from the rays of the sun. 



Thk Indian Edible-nest Swiftlet — {Collocalia fuciphaga). I believe there 

 are several colonies of this little Swiftlet in the neighbourhood of Ooty, 

 Captain Packard and I visited one, which shall be nameless, on the 11th May 

 and had a very interesting day. We made all the handobust but thought we 

 were doomed to disappointment, as after having searched all the likely spots, 

 as we thought, we only got 2 nests, containing 2 fresh and 2 incubated eggs 

 each. On making further explorations, we came on a cave inhabited by them 

 but to our disgust found we could not effect an entrance, the exit being so- 

 small. We were obliged to use lamps as it was pitch dark. This made a con- 

 siderable flutter in the dovecots and the birds came flying out, and as they came 

 they flew straight into your face, which was rather disconcerting. We were aw- 

 fully disgusted, just as we were resigning all hope. Captain Packard noticed 

 another cave, down which we promptly went and were rewarded. In this 

 cave there were 8 nests, 7 containing 2 more or less fresh eggs each, while one 

 had 2 young birds. The nests were made almost entirely of white lichen, a 

 little moss being used in some and were glued to the:rock by inspissated saliva 

 of a whitish colour : the nests were all within reach of hand and looked like 

 the little saucers natives use so much for illuminations. As we went in, the 

 nests showed up white with the light shining on them. There was not much 

 saliva in each nest and I fancy it would take a good number to make soup for 

 John Chinaman and some trouble to separate the lichen from the saliva. 



The Rufoos-backed Sheike— (Lamus erythronotus) is the common Shrike 

 and is very fond of the open slopes and wet bottoms so common a feature 

 in Ooty topography. It has a long breeding season, beginning in February 



