56 AMID THE HIGH HILLS 
these species have a normal flighting speed of 
something very nearly approaching 200 miles an 
hour, enormously in excess of the powers of any 
other bird with which I am acquainted. In 
North Cachar, Assam, these birds used to fly 
directly over my bungalow in Ilaflang, flying 
thence in a straight line to a ridge of hills exactly 
two miles away, and when over the ridge at once 
dipping out of sight. We constantly timed these 
swifts and found that stop-watches made them 
cover this distance in from 36 seconds to 42 
seconds, i.e. at a rate of exactly 200 miles an hour 
to 171-4." 
Writing of the Chaetura nudipes Mr. W. T. 
Blanford, F.R.S., says : ^ "This and the other 
large spine -tails are, I believe, absolutely the 
swiftest of living birds. Their flight far exceeds 
that of the Alpine swift, and I doubt if any falcon 
can approach them in speed. They are generally 
seen in scattered flocks that play about for a time 
and disappear at a pace that must be seen to be 
appreciated." 
The same ornithologist refers ^ to the Chaetura 
^ The Fauna of British India including Ceylon and Burma Birds, 
vol. iii. p. 173. Published under the authority of the Secretary of State 
for India in Council. Taylor & Francis, London, 1895. 
2 Ibid. p. 174. 
