Near the middle of May, my servant Sam, being engaged at Culloden, in Westmoreland parish, cutting the fronds of the palmetto (_Chamœrops_) for thatching, found these little birds nestling in abundance, and procured for me many nests of the present season. Their recent construction, and perhaps the diversity of their situation—for instead of the hollow of a spathe, these were attached to the plaited surface of the fronds,—gave them a different appearance from the former specimens. Many of these I have now in my possession. They have a singularly hairy appearance, being composed almost exclusively of the flax-like cotton of the _Bombax_, and when separated, are not unlike a doll’s wig. They are in the form of those watch-fobs, which are hung at beds’ heads, the backs being firmly glued by saliva to the under surface of the fronds, the impressions of the plaits of which are conspicuous on the nests when separated. The thickness is slight in the upper part, but in the lower it is much increased, the depth of the cup descending very little below the opening. The cotton is cemented firmly together as in the case of the others, but externally it is allowed to hang in filamentous locks, having a woolly, but not altogether a ragged appearance. A few feathers are intermixed, but only singly, and not in any part specially. One specimen is double, two nests having been constructed so close side by side, that there is but a partition wall between them. Many nests had eggs, but in throwing down the fronds all were broken but one, which I now have. It is pure white, unspotted, larger at one end, measuring ¹³⁄₂₀ inch by ⁹⁄₂₀. The average dimensions of the nests were about 5 inches high, and 3¹⁄₂ wide. The genus _Tachornis_ seems intermediate between _Cypselus_ and _Collocalia_, with considerable general resemblance to the latter. This species is perhaps Hirundo 1, of Browne. BLACK SWIFT.[14] _Cypselus niger._ _Hirundo nigra_, +Gmel.+ [14] Length 6¹⁄₂ inches, expanse—? flexure 6²⁄₁₀, reaching about 1 inch beyond the tail, tail outmost feather 2³⁄₄, uropygials 2, rictus ¹⁄₂, beak from forehead ²⁄₁₀, tarsus ¹⁄₂, middle toe ⁴⁄₁₀, lateral toes sub-equal, hallux opposite. Outmost tail-feathers sub-rounded, the rest elegantly emarginated. First and second quills equal, the rest graduated rapidly. Irides ——? beak and feet black. Whole plumage black, very slightly glossed with raven-grey, and greenish; head and under parts approaching to smoke brown. The feathers of the forehead tipped with whitish; a grey spot just behind the lower eyelid.