4 



I have observed, to sail up and down. Their old nests are very numerous on the rocks 

 that line the railway-cutting through the Bhore Ghat, and also on tlie cliffs at Poorundher, 

 the sanitarium 18 miles south of Poona. These nests are placed at from 5 to 12 feet 

 from the ground. I satisfied myself that the Martins were breeding on the top of the 

 Bhore Ghat at the end of May 1871, and on the 9th of June I observed a pair at their 

 nest at the bottom of the Ghat. 



" ' At Poona, on the 1st of March, 1871, 1 saw a nest under a ledge of stone in a well. 

 The old bird was sitting, and, though repeatedly frightened off, only made two or three 

 circles round the inside of the well and returned to the nest. 



" ' The nest was then given up as inaccessible, from distance and other causes ; but 

 on the 20th of the following August my brother went down to the same nest by means 

 of a rope, and found two eggs, on which the bird was sitting. He described the nest as 

 extremely fragile ; it crumbled to pieces on the first touch. 



" ' In June of the same year my brother, Mr. E. Aitken, saw a nest, in which the 

 parent bird was sitting, under the porch of the Club at Poona. Of this he has perhaps 

 informed you himself.' 



" Messrs. Davidson and Wendon remark : — ' In the Sholapoor districts it breeds in 

 abundance in the rains and in Pebruary. At Egv^tpoora it was breeding in the verandah 

 of the Engineers' bungalow in the middle of March and first week in August. At 

 Lanoli on 20th March.' 



" Mr. G. Vidal, relating his experiences in the South Konkan, says : — ' Common on 

 the coast and for a few miles inland. I have found nests on the cliffs in February, 

 March, and April, and under the eaves of a bungalow in August.' 



" Referring to Rajputana in general, Lieut. H. E. Barnes tells us that ' the Dusky 

 Crag-Martin breeds during March and April, and again in July and August. The nest, 

 composed of pellets of mud, well lined with feathers, is deep saucer-shaped, and is 

 generally affixed to the side of a house under shelter of the eaves.' " 



Colonel Swinhoe and Lieut. Barnes, in their paper on the Mhow district, state 

 that this Martin is a permanent resident and breeds during February and March, and 

 again in October and November. 



Por the geographical distribution of this species, vide infra, Plate 33 [Map]. 



