(luring th e cold weather, and th e ir nesting-holes are to be seen in a ll th e liigli banks.
I t breeds iu E e hm a ry and Ma rch, and by th e end of A p ril all liave le ft tho district.
The I lum e collection contains specimens from E a ip u r and th e Sumhulpur d istrict
in th e Cen tral Provinces, an d Prof. Va lentine Ball obtained specimens of the species in
th e la tte r locality.
Colonel Swinhoe an d Lieut. Barnes, writin g on th e birds o f th e Mliow district,
observe :—“ The In d ia n Sand-Martin is very common, and is a p erman en t resident,
b reeding in J a n u a ry and P e h ru a ry in holes excavated by th e birds tliemselves in tho
sandy banks of th e river. Tho holes a re from 18 to 2J, inches in depth.”
Mr. J . Davidson, in his ro u g h lis t o f th e birds of 'Western Kliandeish, writes as
follows “ Common in Taloda, Sbada, and N an d u rb a r in the cold weatlier. I th in k it
left th e d istric t in th e h o t weather, b u t find n o th in g ab o u t it h i my notes and cannot
remember. I t b red ab u n d an tly along th e Tapti in November and December.” Messrs.
Davidson an d IVendon, in th e ir notes on th e Avifauna of th e Deooau, sta te th a t i t is
to le rab ly common in th a t p a rt of India . ,kt gangola i t breeds singly, in river-banks, in
December. Ou th e banks of th e Bhima, Mr. Davidson g o t a single n est with th ree fresh
eggs iu March.
Colonel B u tle r includes it as a p erm an en t resident in th o Bombay Presidency. He
says it is “ common, as a ru le , in suitable localities th ro u g h o u t th e region, b u t not as yet
recorded from E a tn ag iri. I t probably avoids tlio forc.st tra c ts ,” Mr. P a irh an k , in his
list of birds from th e v icin ity of Kliandala, records th e species from near Satara, and
tlie I lum e collection contains a specimen from E a liu r i in tlio Alimcduuggur district,
procured ou th e 23rd of Marcii.
I n Colonel Legge’s ‘ Birds of Ceylon,’ m ention is made of tlie occurrence of a Sand-
M a rtin in tlia t island, which had been observed by M r. Bligii on several occasions d u riu g
th e north -e ast monsoon. Colonel Legge suggests th a t th e species may have been Coiile
obsoleta, b u t it is ju s t as likely to have belonged to th e p resent species.
I n Burmah, Mr. B ly th sta te s th a t it is common along th e rivers, where it holds the
place of C. rip a ria of Europe. Captain Wardlaw E am say found i t near Tonglioo.
Mr. Oates says th a t it is common iu Ara can and Pegu in th e neiglibourhood of all the
large rivers. Mr. Davison procured two specimens a t Palipoon, in N o rth e rn Tenasserim
in J a n u a ry , b u t says th a t i t is ra re iu th e province. H e writes :—“ I never saw it in
th e Gyne, Hongtliraw, A ttaran , or any o f th e m ore southern streams ; in faet, I only
ohscrved i t a t Palipoon, where th ey occurred iu moderate numbers. Wlieu I was leaving
Pahpoon, ab o u t th e end of P eb ru ary , th ese birds were j u s t commencing to excavate th e ir
nest-lioles in tlie banks of th e Yonnzaleen.”
Dr. Anderson shot a couple of specimens on a littlo sandy promontory in tile second
dolile of tlie Irawady. According to Dr. Tiraud it is common in Cocliin China, and
Abbé David states th a t i t is spread over Sou th ern China, and th a t lie met witli it in the
south of Cliensi, immediately a fte r tlie m elting of th e snow, so th a t he supposes th a t it
must win ter in th e lio tte r portions of tile Celestial Empire.
The late Con.sul Swinhoe has given the following account of the species in the island
of P o rm o s a:— “ I s a summer visitant to all suitable localities in the south of Cliina, and
is also found in all p a rts of Formosa, frequenting the steep sandy banks ot rivers, into
whicli i t bores long galleries, oonstriicting a t the end ot these its cup-sliapcd nest, and
depositing therein th ree wdiite eggs. I ts winter migrations extend to th e plains of
Hindostán, where, curiously onoiigli, it is reported by observers to nest again in the
h e a rt of winter. This is, I believe, th e only well-authenticated fact recorded of tliis
long-suspeoted h ab it in migratory birds. I t visits Pormosa in April, and leaves again in
October.
“ Some fifteen miles up the Tanisuy lliv e r, in a long sand-haiik, I found several rows
of perforations made by th is hird. The birds wore fiying in and out of th em in great
n umbers, so wo stopped to examine them. Most of tb e boles were out of arm’s r e a c li;
and as th e h an k was v e iy steep, and composed of loose mud, we had great cliffioulty iu
e stahlishmg a footing. We managed, liowever, after much trouble, to in sert our .arms
into several of them. The holes wore in a ll stages of progress, some only ju s t begun,
others scarcely a foot d e e p ; in some th e eggs were hard-set, in others q uite freshly laid.
The holes ra n into the h a n k with only a slight inoliiiatioii from tho horizontal. In all
instances they tu rn ed a little to the rig h t, extending in d epth to about two feet,—th eir
diameter being from two to th ree inches, which is enlarged to a cavity aliout six or eight
iiiclics broad a t th e bottom. In its cup-sliapcd base was placed tb e nest, composed of
lig h t straw and dried grasses aud lined witli featliers. One m'st, liowever, h ad no
featliers; b u t as it had no eggs, I eonoluded it was unfinished. The eggs in every case
were only th re e in number, of a p inkish white, without .spot or stain. On o ur d isturbing
tlio birds they rushed in consternation from th e ir ncstiug-site, au d afte r flying about
low ill th e air a t some distance in great agitation, th ey would meet to g eth er for some
seconds as if in consultation. They would th en again h u rry off in dill'erent directions,
and again meet. F in d in g we were in no h u r ry to leave tlicir ground, tlicy began to
scatter and soar away to a considerable height. As soon, however, as we witlidrew for
a space, th ey rctiirned, many diving a t once into tlieir burrows, others rnslniig backwards
and forwards close p ast tlio holes, as if bewildered and afraid to enter. Tlicy were
so numerous, and looked so small in tbo b rig h t quivering liglit of a hot Porraosan day,
th a t th ey seemed to me a t times more like Dragon-flies tlian liircls.” Again he w rites :—
“ Au g u st 11 th was a lino day, h u t very hot. I took a ten-mile ride into th e co untry to
the h liik s of a river near the foot of th e first range of low liills. In the steiqi elay-liaiiks
occurred rotmd lioles bored hy th e Sand-Martin, h u t tlic little fellows had fliiishcd with
th em for the year.”
Mr. I lum e was inclined a t ono time to consider th a t 0. subsoccata was distinct
from C. sinensis, and th a t both spooies bred iu India. Ho has siiiec u nited them, and
gives th e following notes in his ‘ Nests and Eggs ot Indian Birds ’
“ On the 11th Jan u ary , 18(17, I came across a colony ot S am l-lla rtin s , hreciliiig in
the high sandy banks ot the Jumn a, below Shercgnrh, very near, in fact, to th e jo in t