species very abundant, reminding me strongly of 0. rip aria, from
which its dull-colonred breast most readily distinguishes it.” Mr.
T. B. Buckley obtained one specimen out of a flock at Pietermaritzburg.
Mr. Thomas Ayres gives the following note on the species in
Natal:—“ These Martins I have never seen on the coast. I found
many of them during the winter months about the stream near
Pietermaritzburg; they occasionally alighted to rest on the overhanging
reeds, where, I have no doubt, they roost at night, as I
have frequently found them thus perched before the sun rose.
Sometimes they hunted singly, sometimes in companies; and their
flight being very eccentric, I found them diflicult to shoot.” The
same gentleman observes:—“ This Martin is as common in the
Transvaal in June and July as it is in the upper districts of Natal.
They are fond of following in the course of a river, skimming along
with rather eccentric flight within a few feet of the surface of the
water.” Dr. Kirk shot it in the Zambesi as it was “ flying round
the ship in the Elephant Marsh.”
This is the smallest of the South African Sand Martins, and is
distinguished by the entire absence of white spots on the tail
feathers.
Adult.—Above brown with lighter edgings to the wing-coverts
and secondaries; throat and breast greyish brown, the sides of the
body a little darker brown; under wing-coverts brown mixed with
white, abdomen and under tail-coverts pure white; “ bill and feet
black ; iris dark hazel” (T. E. Buckley). Total length, 4'7 inches ;
wing, 4‘0; tail, 2'1 .
Young. Similar to the adult but a little more reddish in colour
and having the upper plumage mottled.
Fig. Le Yaill. Ois. d’Afr. V, pi. 246.
347. H iru n d o ru st ica. European Swallow.
The fork-tailed Swallows of Africa may be divided into, three
groups, the first of which have the lower back and rump blue like
the mantle; to this section belong six species, of which the present
is one. I t may be distinguished by the following characters: rufous
forehead and throat, and rufous-tinged under tail-coverts.
The European Swallow is a regular and common visitant to. the
Cape Colony, throughout the whole of which it is distributed. In
1867 the first bird arrived in Cape Town on the 27th of July, and
we have noticed a few stragglers as late as the 2nd of April.
Although the species stays with us for the greater part of the year,
it does not appear to breed, and we believe that all the young birds
which are seen in South Africa are not natives but are visitors from
the north. These young birds, during their stay with us, go through
a peculiar phase of plumage which was fully described by Messrs.
Sharpe and Dresser in the Proceedings of the Zoological Society for
1870 (p. 244), from specimens obtained at the Cape by Mr. P. R.
Surtees. Captain Shelley during his three months’ visit to South
Africa found it by far the most abundant Swallow in Capetown.
Victorin obtained it at the Knysna from September to November.
In Natal, writes Mr. Ayres, “ these Swallows arrive in November
in great numbers, and congregate and leave again in March and
April; they are fond of alighting to rest on the outer twigs of
bushes, stems of tall grass, and trees, especially at the time of their
departure, when many hundreds assemble together. Like most
other Swallows they are almost constantly on the wing.” Mr. F.
A. Barratt states that “ these Swallows appear every year in the
district of Potchefstroom during our summer months,” and in th
Lydenburg district of the Transvaal, Mr. Thomas Ayres states that
they “ appeared in fair numbers amongst the mountains during the
summer months, and very probably bred among the rocks.” Although
not observed to breed in other parts of South Africa it
would seem to do so from the accompanying note of Mr. Anders-
son’s :—“ This well-known species is pretty common in Damara and
Great Namaqua Land during the rainy season, and I have found it
very numerous at Walvisch Bay and in other localities near the
coast. In uncivilized parts of Africa these Swallows affix their nests
to some projections of a rock or trunk of a tree, or occupy cavities
, in rocks or banks.”
Upper side steel-blue, with greenish reflections; quill-feathers of
wing and tail rusty ; throat and forehead deep rufous; under parts
dull flesh-colour, with a broad collar of the same colour as the back,
joining the red throat; tail deeply forked; the two outer feathers
much prolonged; all the inner vanes with a patch of white, which
together form a distinct white bar, most visible on the under side;
“ iris dark brown, bill black, legs brownish” (Andersson). Length,
6 ; wing, 5” ; tail, 4“ .
Fig. Dresser, B. Europe, pt. xxxvii.