on the wing, uttering their curious guttural notes, at the same time that, from the same 

 cause, half a dozen lazy-looking but watchful crocodiles rush, with a mighty splash, into 

 the muddy pool. Such haunts as these literally teem with insect-life; and I have seen 

 scores of these Swallows hawking about a small water-hole of about half an acre in 

 extent, which was all that remained of what was, in the wet season, a fine sheet of 

 water. Its flight is slower than that of most Swallows, and it often sails along on out- 

 stretched wings, now and then making a sort of circle in its course. In the south it is 

 fond of frequenting paddy-fields made in the narrow glades lying between the low wooded 

 hills characteristic of that part. 



" Nidlfication. — The Red-bellied Swallow breeds in the north, west, south, and centre 

 of the island from March until June, constructing a Martin-like nest in outhouses, open 

 dwellings, or under culverts and bridges. The nest is composed externally of mud and 

 lined with feathers ; it is large, and the entrance is situated usually at the end of a spout, 

 running from 3 to 6 inches along the planks at the top of the nest ; some have merely a 

 circular orifice at the top. One which I frequently observed during the course of its 

 construction was built in a merchant's office in Galle, the familiar little architects taking 

 no notice whatever of the clerks who wrote at their desks just beneath ; it was completed 

 in about three weeks, the spout being added last, and after this was finished, one of the 

 pair took up its position inside the nest and received the feathers brought by its mate to 

 the entrance. The eggs are either two or three in number, and some brought to me as 

 belonging to this bird were pure white and pointed lengthy ovals in shape, much re- 

 sembling those of Cypselus affinis; they measure 0-85 inch by 0-56 inch. I have not 

 taken the eggs myself." 



The descriptions are taken from specimens in the British Museum, and the figure 

 in the Plate from one procured by Mr. Wyatt near Kandy. 



2p 



