common, but in many districts unknown. The Bev. S. B. Fairbank met with it near 

 Satara. Mr. Vidal killed a specimen at Dliamapur in the South Konkan on the 12th of 

 February, 1880, and in the Hume collection is a single bird from Coimbatore, shot by 

 Mr. R. H. P. Carter in August. 



Mr. Hume has the following account of the nesting of the species in his ' Nests and 

 Fgsjs of Indian Birds ' : — 



"They breed, according to my experience, from February to April and again in July 

 and August ; they build a small, more or less retort-shaped mud nest, in clusters of from 

 20 to 200, packed as closely as possible, so that a section parallel to the wall or cliff face 

 against which a colony has established itself, and about four inches away from the wall, 

 would present an appearance much like that of a honeycomb, though the cells would be 

 less regular. The tubular mouths, from two to five inches long, all point outwards, but 

 those of the exterior nests of the cluster are generally turned somewhat. The chambers 

 vary a good deal in size, but average from four inches in diameter. Their nests are to 

 be found equally in the wildest and most desolate, and again, as at the Kotwalee in 

 Dehra and the city gate at Ajmere, in the most thronged and frequented localities. 



" The nests are well lined with feathers, and I remember more than once that when 

 robbing these nests, numbers of feathers were carried away with the wind, all of which 

 the little Swallows industriously captured in their mouths, but at last not knowing what 

 to do with them, the men being still at work at the nests, apparently reluctantly let 

 them fly." 



" Mr. B. Thompson says : — ' I found large numbers of this Swallow breeding in the 

 Central Provinces, especially about the fine arched bridges on the Great Northern and 

 Deccan road.' 



" Mr. F. B. Blewitt enquires :— 



" ' Does this bird breed twice in the year ? I ask the question for the following 

 reason. Though I have occasionally seen this Swallow in other localities, yet only at 

 Talbehut have I found the nest. On the side wall of a Hindoo place of worship facing 

 the main road of the city there are clustered closely together above one hundred of these 

 retort-shaped nests. When I passed there in the latter end of April, the birds, a perfect 

 colony of them, were breeding. Owing to the strong prejudice of the people, who would 

 not permit the nests to be robbed, I with difficulty secured four eggs. Again in the 

 same nests, the birds were found breeding in August, and some twenty eggs obtained. 

 Four appears to be the regular number of eggs.' " " So far as I can judge," adds Mr. 

 Hume, "three is the normal number ; I have opened a very large number of nests, 

 and only twice or thrice found more than three eggs." 



"The eggs of this species vary much in size, shape, and colour. Typically, they are 

 a long oval, a good deal pointed towards one end, but some are fairly perfect ovals, while 

 others are pyriform, and here and there a nearly cylindrical variety is observable. They 

 are smaller, as a rule, than those of L. erytkropygia, and more glossy, resembling in these 

 respects those of S.filifera. The ground-colour in all is white, a good deal tinged, when 



