Birds of the Indian Hills 



THE HIRUNDINID^ OR SWALLOW FAMILY 



This family includes the swallows and the 

 martins. 



The swallows commonly found on the 

 Nilgiris in summer are the Nilgiri house-swallow 

 {Hirundo javanica) and the red-rumped or 

 mosque swallow {H. erythropygia). I regret 

 to have to state that Oates has saddled the 

 latter with the name "Sykes's striated swallow" ; 

 he was apparently seduced by the sibilant 

 alliteration ! 



Those two swallows are easily distinguished. 

 The latter is the larger bird ; its upper parts 

 are glossy steel-blue, except the rump, which is 

 of chestnut hue. The house-swallow has the 

 rump glossy black, but it displays a good deal 

 of red about the head and neck. 



In the cold weather the European swallow 

 and two species of martin visit the Nilgiris. 



THE MOTACILLID.E OR WAGTAIL FAMILY 



In the winter several kinds of wagtail visit 

 the Nilgiris, but only one species remains all 

 the year round. This is the beautiful pied 



wagtail {Motacilla maderaspatensis), of which 



208 J 



