This Swallow is a permanent resident in Ceylon, where it was first found by Mr.
E. L. Layard, and he has given the following account of the species :—
“ I first discovered this species in November, 1819, at Amhepussa, on the road to
Kandy. I have since then seen them at Putlara, up the central road as far as the hills
extend, at Ambegamoa, and up the Caltura river from Perth sugar-estate to Patnapoora
and Adam’s Peak. They breed in caverns aud under bridges, and build a nest of mud
attached to the roof. The general shape and size is that of a small basin, with a round
entrance-hole at the top. The lining is composed of fine hay and feathers, and the eggs
are laid in March. The late Dr. Gardner infoi*med me that a pair built their nest on a
ring supporting a hanging lamp, nightly used in his sitting-room. They securely
hatched thoir eggs, unscared by the cleaning or lighting of his lamp, and the young
birds returned to the nest every night for about a month after being fully fledged.”
Colonel Vincent Leggc has given an exhaustive account of the species iu his ‘ Birds
of Ceylon,’ which we transcribe herewith :—
“ Distrihution.—This fine Swallow was discovered by Layard, who met with it in 1819,
near Ambepussa. It is widely distributed throughout all the low country, with the
exception of the extreme north, where I have not noticed it. In the forest-districts
lying between Dambulla and the latitude of Manaar it is local, being chicflv 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, aud in the TVestern Province is found
principally iu the interior. So plentiful is it, however, in the south-w’est of the island,
that it is the common Swallow of the town of Galle, and seems to aflPect the sea-coast
quite as readily as the interior, except during the wet windy weatiier of the south-west
monsoon, when it retires for shelter to the secluded vales away from tlie sea-board.
About Kandy, and in the Central Province generally up to 3000 feet, it is common, and
in Uva aud Ilaputale is found much higher than that elevation, for I have known it to
breed at 4000 feet in the latter district. i\tr. Bligh has seen it once at Nuwara Elliya ;
hut it is rare on that elevated plateau, althougli in many of the coffoe-districts it may he
seen hawking at higher altitudes than that of tho Sauatarinm. In the Morowak-Korale
district it is not uncommon.
“ Habits.—Our 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 wdlds of the jungle are the places to which it is partial. It is found in the
Central Province about estate-stores and bungalows, and often consorts there with
the little Bungalow-Swallow, breeding in cattle-sheds and outhouses and permanently
frequenting their vicinity. It is a characteristic bird of the wild village tanks iu the
Vanni, and its cheerful chirrup is often one of the first hird-sounds which meets the ear,
on the sportsman suddenly emerging from the forest and finding himself standing at tlie
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
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on the wing, uttering their curious guttural notes, at the same time that, from the same
cause, half a dozen lazy-looking hut watchful crocodiles rush, with a mighty splasli, into
the muddy pool. Such haunts as these literally teem with inscct-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 flight 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 fi’equenting paddy-fields made in the narrow glades lying between the low w'ooded
hills characteristic of that part.
“ Nidification.—The Bed-hcllied Swallow breeds in tlie north, west, south, and centre
of the island from March until June, constructing a Martiii-likc nest iu 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 G 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 iu Galle, the familiar little architects taking
no notice whatever of the clerks who 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 aud pointed lengthy ovals in shape, much resembling
those of Cypselus affinis; they measure 0-85 inch hy O'oG inch. I have not
taken the eggs myself.”
The descriptions are taken from specimens in tho British Museum, and the figure
in the Plate from one procured hy Mr. Wyatt near Kandy.