Descriptive Inst of the Common Birds 
gold. Rump yellow, lower plumage yellow, 
bright in male and duller in female. 
Winter visitor to N.W. and Central India. 
N.B.—None of the above buntings occur in Madras. 
The Swallows, 86-go 
Swallows and martins form a well-marked 
and familiar group of birds. The only other 
family with which it is possible to confound 
them is that of the swifts. Anatomically the 
two families are far removed from one another ; 
but similarity of profession has brought about 
similarity in outward appearance. Neverthe- 
less, the representatives of the two families 
may be distinguished at a glance as they dash 
through the air. ‘“ As a swallow darts along,” 
writes Eha, “ its wings almost close against its 
sides at every stroke, and it looks like a pair of 
scissors opening and shutting. Now a swift 
never closes its wings in this way. It whips 
the air rapidly with the points of them, but 
they are always extended and evenly curved 
from tip to tip, like a bow, the slim body of 
the bird being the arrow.” Jefferies likens 
a flying swift to an anchor with enormous 
flukes. Another difference between the swifts 
and the swallows is that the former never 
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