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it twice, and then in small numbers. As a general rule, however, wherever there are large 

 towns, large pagodas, tombs, or other old buildings, you are pretty sure to find a colony, larger 

 or smaller, of this Swift. In wooded and hilly countries it is occasionally seen about rocks, 

 where it breeds. I saw a few on a cliff on the Neilgherries, which, comparing by mistake with 

 an allied species, I thought to be a new and smaller kind. It does not usually take a long range 

 from its breeding-places, always returning at night to roost in them. It is a noisy bird, especially 

 just before or about their breeding-time, rushing into and out of their nests, circling round for a 

 short distance, and screaming incessantly with a rather sharp cry." Mr. A. O. Hume (Stray 

 Feathers, i. p. 166) met with it "once or twice in parties between Jhelum and Kussmore; but 

 from Kussmore throughout Upper Sindh to Sehwan, I never saw it. At Sehwan, Kotree, and 

 Hyderabad, it was abundant, and from Kurrachee again I met with it, wherever we landed, to 

 Gwader." Dr. Leith Adams (P. Z. S. 1859, p. 173) found it " common on the banks of the Dras 

 river, in Ladakh, and on the lakes and streams of that country," and he frequently saw it in 

 Kashmir. Captain Beavan found it common at Barrackpore, but rare in Maunbhoom, and 

 especially abundant at Calcutta in May; and Mr. W. E. Brooks (Ibis, 1869, p. 47) speaks of it 

 as being very common both at Nynee Tal and at Almorah. 



Mr. Holdsworth, referring to its occurrence in Ceylon, differs in opinion from Mr. Layard, 

 who considered it a migrant, and writes (P. Z. S. 1872, p. 419), "I found it nesting in August 

 under the rocks overhanging the entrance to the famous temple at Damboul ; and as it breeds 

 in Ceylon during the summer months I have no doubt it is a resident species. It has been 

 met with in other parts of the island, but is local. I have not observed it on the upper hills." 

 It occurs in China, and, according to Mr. Swinhoe, is a permanent resident at Amoy, and found 

 from Hainan to Amoy, and in Formosa. Mr. Blyth (Ibis, 1866, p. 339) records it under the 

 name of C. subfurcatus from Penang, and says that it doubtless occurs in Siam, Cambogia, 

 Cochin China, and Assam. 



This Swift differs more especially from the others of this family found within the limits of 

 the Palaearctic Region in being a non-migratory and very local species, but it is a true Swift in 

 its habits. Canon Tristram gives (Ibis, 1865, pp. 76-79) some interesting details respecting its 

 habits and nidification as observed by him in Palestine, as follows : — " Unlike its congeners this 

 Swift is a permanent resident in the district it inhabits. In many genera of birds, it may be 

 observed that those species which have the most extended northerly have also the most extended 

 southerly range, and that those which resort to the highest latitudes for nidification also pass 

 further than others to the southward in winter. Thus the migratory Fieldfare and Redwing, 

 visiting regions north of the limits of the Thrush and Blackbird, on their southward migration 

 likewise leave their more sedentary relatives behind. The Brambling, which passes the Chaffinch 

 in Norway, leaves it also in Europe, and crosses the Mediterranean every winter to the Barbary 

 States. The Egyptian and Collared Turtle Doves remain throughout the year in North Africa 

 and Syria ; but the common Turtle (T. auritus, Temm.), so abundant in those countries in 

 summer, never leaves a straggler behind in November, and yet in spring advances a thousand 

 miles nearer to the Pole than they do. And thus, while Cypselus melba does not return to 

 Palestine until about the 12th February, and the yet more northerly Cypselus apus was not 

 observed until the last week in March, Cypselus galilceensis is building before the return of the 



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