(1161) Hirundo daurica nepalensis.
Hodgson's Striated Swallow.
Hirundo nepalensis Hodgs., J. A. S. B., v, p. 780 (1886) Central Nepal) ; Blanf. & Oates, ii, p. 282.
Vernacular names. Inrui-gobi (Kacha Naga).
Description. Differs from H. d. daurica in being a little paler below and in having the rump paler posteriorly. It is a decidedly smaller bird.
Colours of soft parts as in the other races.
Measurements. Wing 109 to 120 mm.; tail 88 to 100 mm.; tarsus 13 to 14 mm.; culmen 7 to 8 mm.
Distribution. Breeding in the Himalayas and found in Winter over the whole of Northern India and Burma. Although said to be a breeding bird in Assam, China etc., it certainly does not breed in Eastern Assam or South of the Brahmaputra, where it is replaced by the very similar but slightly larger H. d. daurica. In China the reports of Hodgson's Swallow as breeding probably ail refer to H d. striolata.
Nidification. Hodgson's Striated Swallow breeds throughout the Himalayas up to at least 10,000 feet and down to about 3,500 feet. It makes a retort-shaped nest of mud pellets densely lined first with fine roots and grass and then with soft feathers. The tubular entrance is often very long, measuring from 6 to 13 inches.. The site selected is either under the eaves of a hut or on a cliff under the protection of a rock but in neither case do the birds breed in colonies. The eggs vary from three to five and the average size of sixty eggs is 20.8x 14.4 mm.: maxima 22.0x14.0 and 20.7 x 15.0 mm.; minima 19.1 x 13.6 mm. The principal breeding months are May, June and July but eggs may be found both in April and August, and many birds have two broods.
Habits. Hodgson's Striated Swallow is resident over a great portion of its area but deserts the higher ranges in Winter and at that season may be found over the whole of Northern India and Burma. I never met with it in South Assam but Stevens found it a common cold weather visitor in the North and it must sometimes occur in the South, as in Burma it extends to Pegu.
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