180 birds of india. 



The White-clawed Swift. 



Descr. — Very similar in color to the last; above, glossy blackish- 

 brown, darkest on the head ; the rump white ; beneath the chin 

 and throat dirty white ; the rest of the body glossy brown ; the tips 

 of the feathers whitish. The tail is forked, the outer feathers 

 being about 1 inch longer than the centre ones. 



Feet small ; claws white, or more or less so. Length 6;^ 

 inches ; wing Q\ inches ; tail 2^ ; centre feathers | inch shorter. 



This is a rare species. I obtained one specimen on the western 

 part of the Deccan and several in Malabar, where it frequents rocky 

 hills ; but I did not observe their nests. One was procured alive near 

 Calcutta some years ago, which flew into a room ; and one is 

 mentioned in Horsfield's Catalogue from Bootan. It is said to be 

 common in the Deyra Doon and the North-west Himalayas. It 

 is the bird recorded by Blyth under C. vittaius, Cat. No. 

 423, as having been killed in the Tyne range near Simla, 

 where it would appear to be not uncommon. It is probably 

 a forest and rock-haunting species, spread sparingly throughout 

 the hilly and wooded regions of India. Its likeness to a-ffinis 

 may, however, have led to its being occasionally overlooked. 



C. vittatus, Jard., and Selby, is a nearly allied species, but larger in 

 all its proportions, and more especially in the size of its feet. It is 

 found in China and Malayana, if not also in Burmah ; and one of 

 these two is probably Pallas's var. B, {leucopyga^) of Hir. apus, 

 which he says breeds in company with that bird in rocks round 

 Lake Baikal. 



We now come to another group, distinguished by its small size 

 and plain colors ; and in these characters, as in some of its habits 

 it approaches closely the next genus, Collocalia. 



102. Cypselus batassiensis, Gray. 



Blyth, Cat. 427— Horsf., Cat. 125— C. balassiensis, by mis- 

 take, AucT. — C. palmarum. Gray and Hardw., 111. Ind. Zool. 1 

 pi. 35, 1,— Jerdon, Cat. 256. — Tari ababil, II. — Tal-chatta of 

 Bengal and Central India; both meaning Palm-swallow. — Putta 

 deuliy Hindi. — Batassia also Beng. 



