Birds of the Indian Hills 



never closes its wings to tlie sides of its body ; 

 it merely whips the air rapidly with the tips 

 of them. On the other hand, the swallow, 

 when it flies, closes its wings to its body at 

 every stroke. Notwithstanding its greater 

 effort, it does not move nearly so rapidly as the 

 swift. The swifts will be considered in their 

 proper place. Three species of swallow are 

 likely to be seen in the Himalayas. A small 

 ashy brown swallow with a short tail is the 

 crag-martin (^Ptyono-progne rupestris). 



The common swallow of England {Hirundo 

 rustica) occurs in large numbers at all hill 

 stations in the Himalayas. This bird should 

 require no description. Its glossy purple-blue 

 plumage, the patches of chestnut red on the 

 forehead and throat, and the elegantly-forked 

 tail must be familiar to every Englishman. 

 As in England, this bird constructs under 

 the eaves of roofs its nest of mud lined with 

 feathers. 



Not unlike the common swallow, but readily 

 distinguishable from it in that the lower back 

 is chestnut red, is Hirundo nefalensis — Hodg- 

 son's striated swallow, or the red-rumped 

 swallow, as Jerdon well called it. This bird 



also breeds under eaves. Numbers of red- 



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