327 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, Vol. VIII. 
the Coppersmith does sometimes follow the avocation of a Woodpecker has 
doubtless arisen from the fact that it nests in holes, which it excavates for 
itself, When doing this, it works in precisely the same manner asa Wood- 
pecker and with surprising vigour and perseverance, I remember a nest in my 
garden at Matheran (not of the Coppersmith, but of the Green Barbet, 
M. viridis) in which I heard the bird hammering fiercely long after dark, In 
the pitchy darkness of its hole, which was several feet deep, I suppose it did 
not know when evening came on. The entrance to the hole is commonly on 
the underside of a branch, and of course when the bird is choosing a place, or 
just beginning work, it will be found conducting itself quite after the fashion 
of a Woodpecker. . 
HE. H, AITKEN, 
Karwar, 16th August, 1893, 
No, XIX.—WHERE DO SWALLOWS SLEEP ? 
Can any of the members of the Bombay Natural History Society tell me 
where our Swallows sleep ? In the cold season most parts of India swarm with 
Swallows, which perch in long rows on the telegraph wires, but not on trees, in 
the day-time. They are not on the wires at night, and I very much doubt 
their resorting to trees at that time. I think it likely that they sleep in com- 
pany, like Bee-eaters ; but though Ihave often startled a company of Bee- 
eaters from their roosting tree, I never startled a sleeping Swallow. At one 
time I used to meet with large flights of Swallows circling over some flat-topped 
rocky hills after dusk, very near the ground. They were not hawking insects, 
but evidently wanting to alight, either on the ground or on the low Cajoo-nut 
trees which grew on the hill. I watched them patiently several evenings, but 
it was very dark, and if I went near enough to follow their movements, they 
took fright at once and went off. 
EK, H. AITKEN. 
Karwar, 17th August, 1893. 
No, XX.—ESCAPH OF BLACK SWANS. 
Some years ago two Black Swans were imported from abroad by His High- 
ness the Maharajah of Darbhungah, I saw the birds swimming near his palace, 
and not very long afterwards several young black swans were also to be seen— 
about nine of them if I remember right. As soon as the young birds were 
able to fly, the swans rose from the water and flew away right across the 
station in the direction of the Nepal Frontier, They have never returned, and 
it would be interesting to know whether any sportsmen on the Nepal Frontier 
have ever shot any of these birds. 
A, GOODALL., 
SIMLA, August 20th, 1893. 
