CYPSELIN^ 185 



away, the second nests are mixed with feathers, and occasionally 

 other foreign substances. The eggs are two in number, and pure 

 white. Besides Java, this Swift* has been found in various parts 

 of the Malay peninsula, Siam, Cochin China, &c., also in the 

 Andaman islands. 



The nests of Collocalia linchi, or Jiiciphaga, which is a much 

 smaller bird, are considered more valuable than those of our 

 species. It has been found in the Nicobar Islands, and on the 

 rocky coast on the east of the Bay of Bengal, from Arakan 

 downwards ; also in Java. Several other species of this genus are 

 recorded from the isles of th6 Indian Archipelago, as far as New 

 Guinea; one from the Mauritius; and one, or more, from the 

 islands of the Pacific. 



Gen. Dendrochelidon, Boie. 



Syn. MacTopteryx, Sw. 



Char. — Hallux posterior, not reversible ; tarsus short, naked, or 

 feathered ; wings very long, the first two feathers sub-equal ; tail 

 long, forked ; head crested. 



The Crested Swifts form a very prettily marked group, nearly 

 peculiar to the Indian region, and more especially to Malayana, one 

 species only occurring elsewhere, viz. in Africa. They are allied in 

 several points of their external structure, and even in their ana- 

 tomy, to the Swallows, and evidently form a link between the 

 two sub-families. The feet are constructed, as in the Swallows, 

 of the usual number of phalanges. The sternum is broader 

 posteriorly than in the Swifts in general, with a foramen on each 

 side, and another long oval foramen in the middle ; the ridge less 

 deep, and less projecting than in Cypselus ; the furcula longer and 

 more slender, and the humeri also are longer. The stomach is mus- 

 cular, and there is a gall-bladder, which is absent in all the Swifts, 

 as well as in the Caprimulgidce. 



104. Dendrochelidon coronatus, Tickell. 



Hirundo, apud Tickell — Macropteryx longipennis, SwAiNS., 

 apud Jerdon, Cat. 257. — Blyth, Cat. 430.— D. schisticolor, 

 BoNAP. — D. velatus, Lesson. — Gould's Birds of Asia, pi. 



2 A 



