144 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, Vol. IX. 



(324) E. spodocephala.— The Black-faced Bunting. 

 Oates, No. 798 ; Hume, No. 717. 

 Uncommon in North Cachar ; but Mr. Hole reports it as common 

 at the foot of the hills. The bill is dark horny-brown, two-thirds of 

 the lower mandible, the commissure and gape pale, fleshy horny. 

 (325) E. rutila.— The Chestnut Bunting, 

 Oates, No. 801 ; Hume, No. 722 Bis. 

 I shot a pair of these birds and saw several others on the Halflong 

 Peak in 1891. 



(326) Melophus melanicterus. — The Crested Bunting. 

 Oates, No. 803 ; Hume, No. 724. 

 Very fairly common. 



Family Hirundinidce. 



(327) Chelidon nepalensis.— Hodgson's Martin. 



Oates, No. 807 ; Hume, No. 94. 



In 1892, from the 1st to the 12th July, a number of these birds 



frequented my compound daily, often entering the verandahs of my 



house; and I began to hope they meant breeding in them; but, on the 



13th, they all disappeared and I have seen none .since. 



(328) Cotile riparia. — The Sand Martin. 

 Oates, No. 808 ; Hume, No. 87. 

 The only bird of this species that I have got in North Cachar was 

 shot by me as it was hawking for insects which were rising from some 

 grass being burnt near my bungalow. I saw one or two others the 

 following day, but they were flying too high to shoot. A colony of 

 these sand martins used to breed on the banks of the Barak, just below 

 Lukhipore in Cachar, and probably do so now. Early in November, 

 1888, they were busy breeding there. 



(329) C. sinensis.— The Indian Sand Martin. 

 Oates, No. 809 ; Hume, Nos. 88 and 89. 

 Some of these birds used to breed in a lofty sandy bank of the 

 Diyung ; but one year, during some heavy floods, the face of this bank 

 was washed away, and the nest-holes all destroyed. The following 

 year the birds all left and have made no attempt to breed anywhere 

 near the same place. 



