848 Me. a. LoVEftiDGE : notes on 



appear to have at last selected a spot exactly above the most 

 frequented place — i. e., between the stairs and door (Nairobi, 

 8. vi. 19). 



15.vi. 19. The birds sat with dabs of mud in their beaks, 

 uttering their peculiarly sweet metallic notes. The nest is about 

 finished. 



22.vi. 19. During the week the entrance tunnel has been 

 under construction, the work proceeding veiy slowly. 



28. vi. 19. The birds appear to have gone a, way. 



1. viii. 19. The weather has been very cold and dull during the 

 past month, and the swallows have only twice put in an appear- 

 ance, when they added a few feathers to the nest. 



7. viii. 19. Felt in the nest, and there appeared to be no lining 

 worth mentioning. 



14. viii. 19. Nest with lining of grass and feathers, and one 

 broken egg ivith a streaJc of red in it, lying on the ground, having 

 been pulled down by a rutliless native. When did the egg get 

 incubated ? Is it possible I did not feel to the bottom of the 

 nest on the 7th inst. ? 



Oypsblus apfinis ITardw. 



The Indian Swift is extraordinarily abundant at Frere Town, 

 where great numbers of them fly a.bout, screaming, towards 

 evening ; in fewer numbers they are to be seen at most hours 

 of the day. They build along the cliflfs or under the eaves of 

 verandahs. The nests are constructed of feathers a.nd straw, so 

 cemented together with mucilage that they have the strength 

 and consistency of cardboard. A large number of nests were 

 examined on l.vii.l9; ten of these held young, three held 

 incubated eggs whose clutches numbered four, four, and three 

 respectively. One nest had a single fresh egg in it. 



A nestling was picked up at Morogoro, 29. x. 17. 



Tachorkis parvus Yerr. 



M.j notes on the curious nesting habits of the Lesser Palm-Swift 

 have already been published *, On July 17th, 1917, I revisited 

 the colony which were nesting in the cocoanut-palms (not 

 banana-palms, which was printed in error). One nest was 

 completely upside down, having been built that way ; the bird 

 was brooding two eggs which were nearly ready to hatch. 

 Another nest had a bad egg which had a small hole in the top of 

 it, probably made by a bird's claw. Another held newly-hatched 

 young ; yet another was occupied by downy young. In one 

 instance both birds were on the nest and appeared to be paired. 

 Some nests were unfinished, possibly abandoned. 



On 4. ii. 18, I again visited the spot; in one nest there were 

 two fresh eggs, several hard-sat clutches in others, newly-hatched 

 and half-grown young in the rest. 



* "Observations on the Nesting Habits of tlie Palm Swift etc." Mem. Proc. of 

 the Manchester Lit. & Phil. Soc. vol. Ixi. pt. ii. (1919). 



