6 



June, and at Delhi I have found their nests also in September. They build long retort- 

 shaped nests made of pellets of mud, plastering them against the roof of culverts under- 

 neath, against the top of caves, in banks of rivers, and in ruins, against the roof of any 

 deserted mosque. Three, I think, is the ordinary number of eggs laid; these are pure 

 white, and rather cylindrical in shape.' 



" Colonel Butler writes : — ' Tbe Red-rumped Swallow breeds in tbe neighbourhood 

 of Deesa in June and July. The nest is usually stuck to the roof of caves or holes in 

 rocks, and, like that of other Swallows, is built of mud externally, and lined with dry 

 grass and feathers. It is of a peculiar form, being completely closed up, of an oval 

 shape, terminating at one end with a tubular passage about 7 or 8 inches long, by which 

 the birds enter. During the period of incubation, the female sits very closely, suffering 

 a great noise to be made without flying off the nest. It is not uncommon to find both 

 birds in the nest during the time the hen is sitting. I have taken nests in April at 

 Mount Aboo, but these were exceptional instances, as they do not as a rule commence 

 building before the middle or end of May. In the plains they often build under bridges, 

 archways across nullah culverts, &c.' 



" Mr. Benjamin Aitken mentions that ' Between the 20th and 31st May, 1871, 

 Jerdon's Red-rumped Swallow was observed to be in possession of nests, in similar 

 places to those of Cotile concolor, at Kliandalla, a bill-station on the top of the Bhore 

 Ghat.' 



" Mr. James Aitken says : — ' This is one of those birds which seem highly to 

 appreciate the advantages of civilization, and to think, like Cowper's cat, that men take 

 a great deal of trouble to please them. In Berar they have almost discarded the mosques 

 which gave them their name, and have betaken themselves to the culverts of the roads, 

 which are now hem" constructed all over the country. Wherever a road is made some 

 of the culverts are sure to be taken possession of, as soon as the rains commence, by 

 pairs of these Swallows, which may be seen darting in at one end and out at the other, 

 or hawking about for flies over the pools of water at the road-side; their flight has, 

 however, nothing of the extreme rapidity of that of the Swifts or Wire-tailed Swallows. 

 During the cold season the young often assemble in large flocks, but these all disperse, 

 or perhaps migrate, as the weather gets Avarmer, and only a few pairs remain to breed 

 during the monsoon. The nest is of mud, with a prolonged entrance running along the 

 wall, and is lined with coarse grass and feathers. The eggs are long shaped and pure 

 white, without spot of any kind. In the subterraneous situation in which the nest is so 

 often placed, and with the air still further excluded by the long neck, it is a marvel how 

 the young escape suffocation.' 



" Mr. Davison remarks : — ' This species breeds on the Nilghiris about the com- 

 mencement of April. The nest, as usual with Swallows, is composed externally of mud, 

 and thickly lined with feathers ; it is shaped like the half of a Florence flask. It is 

 placed generally against the roof of a cave or overhanging rock. The eggs are generally 

 three in number, pure white, and of rather an elongated form. Several nests are often 



