46 BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY. 
little outwards, the whole looking not unlike a huge honeycomb. 
They are well lined with feathers, and the eggs, three in number, 
vary a great deal in shape, size, and colour. About half of them are 
pure unspotted white, and the remaining half are more or less 
spotted, speckled, or streaked with yellowish-brown. These mark- 
ings are, however, not very clearly defined. All the eggs of a 
clutch are of the same type. They breed at least twice a year, nests 
being found from July to April in most places where they breed- 
These colonies are always near water. Their nests are occasionally 
appropriated by the Common Swift. A cluster of these nests that I 
found under a bridge on the Saugor road, about twenty miles from 
Kareli, was jointly tenanted by Cliff Swallows, Indian Swifts, and 
Common Sparrows (Passer indicus). The outer nests were occupied 
by the Swifts and Sparrows and the inner ones by the Cliff Swal- 
lows. The next birds are the Sand Martins (Ootyle riparia, 
O. subsoccata, C. sinensis), of which it is still an open question 
whether one, two, or three. species occur in India. I myself 
have only met with one, and this is the Indian Sand Martin, 
whose method of breeding is somewhat similar to that of our British 
species, but the nesting holes seem much more scattered. They bore 
holes in the sandy banks of rivers to the depth of one and a half to 
more than four feet according to the relative hardness of the soil 
and at the end of this hole or passage, which is somewhat enlarged, 
they make a nest, composed of fine grass roots and feathers. The 
eggs are pure, spotless white, and almost devoid of gloss. I have 
never found more than three eggs in any one nest, but others speak 
of finding as many as five. This completes the Swallows and Mar- 
tins. The Swifts differ widely in many respects from the foregoing, 
as do also their nests. Mud that entered so largely into their con- 
struction is now no longer found, but in its stead agglutinated saliva 
is most frequently used. The different species of swifts build very 
dissimilar nests. The nesting of the Indian Swift is so well known 
that itis almost superfluous to say anything about it, but frequently 
common every-day objects are passed over unnoticed, and to meet 
such cases as these I will briefly describe their nests. As a rule, 
they breed together in great numbers, They often make a huge 
cluster of nests, which they affix to the roof of a cave or other suit- 
able place, with isolated nests or small clumps of two or three, 
scattered here and there in close proximity to the central mass. 
The bird frequents the busiest thoroughfares, as well as the most 
