HIEUNDO HYPEEYTHEA. 
593 
not noticed it. In the forest-districts lying between Dambulla and the latitude of Manaar it is local, being 
chiefly confined to small tracts of cultivation in the vicinity of tanks ; in the Eastern Province, which is equally 
wild it is restricted to similar localities, and in the Western Province is found principaUy in the interior. So 
plentiful is it, however, in the south-west of the island, that it is the common Swallow of the town of Galle, 
and seems to affect the sea-coast quite as readily as the interior, except during the wet windy weather of the 
south-west monsoon, when it retires for shelter to the secluded vales away from the sea-board. About Kandy, 
and in the Central Province generaUy up to 3000 feet, it is common, and in Uva and Haputale is “und much 
higher than that elevation, for I have known it to breed at 4000 feet in the latter district. Mr. Bligh has seen 
it once at Nuwara Elliya ; but it is rare on that elevated plateau, although in many of the coffee- districts it 
may be seen hawking at higher altitudes than that of the Sauatariiim. In the Morowak-Korale district it is 
not uncommon. 
Habits.— Owx Ceylon Swallow frequents towns and villages alike with the country. In the latter, 
marshes and paddy-fields, open glades in secluded valleys, and lonely tanks in the wilds of the jungle are the 
places to which it is partial. It is found in the Central Province a great deal about estate-stores and bungalow s, 
and often consorts there with the little Bungalow-Swallow, breeding in cattle-sheds and outhouses and perma- 
nently frequenting their vicinity. It is a characteristic bird of the wild village tanks in the Vanni, and its 
cheerful chirrup is often one of the first bird-sounds which meets the car, on the sportsman suddenly emerging 
from the forest and finding himself standing at the brink of one of those interesting places. Several have 
perhaps been resting on a dead log, half covered with weeds and water, or sitting on the dried mud of the bed 
of one of these small reservoirs, and finding the solitude of their retreat suddenly invaded, glide off on the 
wing, uttering their curious guttural notes, at the same time that, from the same cause, halt a dozen lazy- 
looking but watchful crocodiles rush, with a mighty splash, into the muddy pool. Such haunts as these 
literally teem with insect-life; and I have seen scores of these Swallows hawking about a small water-hole of 
about half an acre in extent, which was all that remained of what was, in the wet season, a fine sheet of water. 
Its flio-ht is slower than that of most Swallows, and it often sails along on outstretched wings, now and then 
making a sort of circle in its course. In the south it is fond of frequenting paddy-fields made in the narrow 
glades lying between the low wooded hills characteristic of that part. 
Nidification.—T\\e Red-bcUied Swallow breeds in the north, west, south, and centre of the island from 
March until June, constructing a Martin-like nest in outhouses, open dwellings, or under culverts and bridges. 
The nest is composed externally of mud and lined with feathers ; it is large, and the entrance is situated 
usually at the end of a spout, running from 3 to 6 inches along the planks at the top of the nest ; some have 
merely a circular orifice at the top. One which I frequently observed during the course of its construction 
was built in a merchant’s office in Galle, the familiar little architects taking no notice whatever of the clerks 
wdio wrote at their desks just beneath ; it was completed in about three weeks, the spout being added last, 
and after this was finished, one of the pair took up its position inside the nest and received the feathers 
brought by its mate to the entrance. The eggs are either two or three in number, and some brought to me 
as belonging to this bird were pure white and pointed lengthy ovals in shape, much resembling those of 
Cypselus affinis-, they measure 0'85 inch by 0'56 inch. I have not taken the eggs myself. 
The figure of this species in the Plate accompanying my article on Munia kelaaTti is that of a male shot 
at Pan-kulam tank, Trincomalie. 
