e swift. The swifts
will be considered in their proper place. Three species of swallow
are likely to be seen in the Himalayas. A small ashy brown swallow
with a short tail is the crag-martin (_Ptyonoprogne rupestris_).

The common swallow of England (_Hirundo rustica_) occurs in large
numbers at all hill stations in the Himalayas. This bird should
require no description. Its glossy purple-blue plumage, the patches
of chestnut red on the forehead and throat, and the elegantly-forked
tail must be familiar to every Englishman. As in England, this bird
constructs under the eaves of roofs its nest of mud lined with
feathers.

Not unlike the common swallow, but readily distinguishable from it
in that the lower back is chestnut red, is _Hirundo
nepalensis_--Hodgson's striated swallow, or the red-rumped swallow,
as Jerdon well called it. This bird also breeds under eaves. Numbers
of red-rumped swallows are to be seen daily seeking their insect
quarry over the lake at Naini Tal.

THE MOTACILLIDAE OR WAGTAIL FAMILY

The great majority of the wagtails are merely winter visitors to India.
Thus they are likely to be seen in the hills only when resting from
their travels. That is to say, in April and May, when homeward bound,
or in September and October, when they move southwards. A few wagtails,
however, tarry in the hills till quite late in the season. The wagtail
most likely to be seen is the grey wagtail (_Motacilla melanope_).
This species, notwithstanding its name, has bright yellow lower
plumage. It nests in Kashmir.

Allied to the wagtails are the pipits. These display the elegant form
of the wagtail and the sober colouring of the lark.

They affect open country and feed on the ground. The upland pipit
(_Oreocorys sylvanus_) is the common species of the Himalayas. It
constructs a nest of grass on the ground, into which the common cuckoo,
of which more anon, frequently drops an egg.

THE NECTARINIDAE OR SUNBIRD FAMILY

The sunbirds are feathered exquisites. They take in the Old World
the place in the New World occupied by the humming-birds. Sunbirds,
however, are superior to humming-birds in that they possess the gift
of song. They are not particularly abundant in the Himalayas, and,
as they do not seem to occur west of Garhwal, I am perhaps not justified
in giving them a place in this essay.

I do so because one species is fairly common round about Naini Tal.
I have seen this bird--the Himalayan yellow-backed