44 BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY. 
When they have young in the nest, they collect these insects into a 
mass or ball which is retained in the mouth. The number thus 
collected is almost incredible. Their long narrow wings are admir- 
ably suited to an aérial life, and they are capable of sustaiming them- 
selves on the wing throughout the whole day, without showing the 
least sign of fatigue. At times they fly so high as to be barely 
visible, while at others they only just skim the surface of a tank. 
The toes of the swifts are all directed forward, enabling them to 
cling to the slightest projection with perfect ease, but the swallows 
do not possess this faculty. Some of them are exceedin gly beauti- 
ful, but others are much less ornate, their colours ranging from the 
bright steel-blue of the Wire-tailed Swallow (Hirundo jilifera), 
(which is, to my thinking, the handsomest of the family), through 
the sober brown of the little Sand Martin (Ootyle sinensis), to the 
sombre-hue of the better known Swift (Cypsellus afinis). Their 
nests exhibit great diversity, both as regards the style of architec- 
ture and the materials used in their construction, but each indivi- 
dual of a species builds a similar nest and makes use of the same 
kind of material, so that an oologist of moderate experience on find- 
ing a nest can tell at a glance to what species the little architect 
belongs. The sites chosen for the nests differ still more than the 
nests themselves. Some species attach them to the faces of perpen- 
dicular cliffs; others to the eaves of houses. Some place them under 
bridges or culverts. One chooses the leaf of a toddy palm; another 
a decayed bough of an acacia tree; while another bores a hole in the 
sandy bank of a river. Many breed in colonies, but the greater num- 
ber singly. Some court the presence of man, others quite the reverse. 
They are mostly birds of small size. One of the largest we have in 
India is the Alpine Swift, which measures about nine inches in 
length. The Common Chimney (Hirwndo rustica) and Wire-tailed 
Swallows, the Dusky Crag (Ptyonoprogne concolor), and several 
other Martins make half saucer oreup-shape nests. The first-named 
does not breed in the plains of India, but on the approach of the 
hot weather retires further north for that purpose. I found them 
breeding freely in the Bolan Pass and also in Southern Afghanistan, 
but the Wire-tailed Swallow and the Dusky Crag Martin breed 
generally all over the country, rearing at least two broods in the 
year, one in the spring and the other in the autumn. If the first 
clutch of eggs be taken they will lay a second, and if that betaken, 
a third in the same nest, ‘The nest of the Common Swallow is gene- 
