Mr. R. Swinhoe's Ornithological Notes made at Chefoo. 435 
15. White-rumped Swift. Cypselus pacificus. 
Swifts were at Chefoo before us, and were to be seen every 
fine day flying in parties high in the air, and in cloudy weather 
darting about near houses and round the summits of hills. 
At sundown I noticed they went seawards, and roosted in the 
cliffs that bordered the sea. On the 22nd June, Constable 
Webster went out collecting for me to the North Rock, a 
small rocky islet about fifteen miles to seaward of the harbour. 
He found the island girt with rocky cliffs, which he had much 
difficulty in scaling by means of the oars of the boat. On the 
top, about 100 feet elevation, was a grassy flat. In the clefts 
and crannies of the rocks he found many nests, off which he 
poked the owners, and brought to me a dozen of them alive 
in a cage. They were individuals of the bird under notice 
of both sexes (five males and seven females), showing that 
both males and females take their turn in incubation. Some 
of these had an extraordinary four-winged gad-fly about their 
feathers. The nests were small for the size of the bird, shaped 
like three-quarters of a saucer, with its broken side adhering to 
the rock, and in jsome cases resting its under surface on a pro¬ 
jecting ledge. One was apparently a nest of the year, con¬ 
sisting of a shallow saucer, nearly 4 inches in greatest breadth, 
thicker behind than in front, and constructed of refuse straw 
and a few bits of catkins and feathers, all strongly aggluti¬ 
nated with a gelatinous matter, doubtless the bird^s saliva. 
Another was perhaps the accumulation of six years, consisting 
of six nests one placed above another and strongly glued to 
it. Fucoids and a little earth formed the foundation of the 
lowest of the series. The eggs contained in all were two in 
number, the fresh ones pinkish white until blown, when they 
became an unpolished white. Many were hard-set, containing 
advanced embryos, and then showed externally dull white. 
They average in length T2 inch, by *7 in breadth. This 
species figures in the MS. Illustrations as the “ Iron-footed 
Swallow/"’ Pallas (Zoograph. Rosso-Asiat. i. p. 539) decides 
after some hesitation to consider this only a var. /3 of Cypselus 
apus , and speaks of its breeding in company with the Black 
Swift in abundance on the rocks about Lake Baikal. Had 
2 h 2 
