, H |
N o v om b e r; one found by B u tle r was on a cliff ab o u t one h undred vards from th e water,
on a sloping hill-side. W h en th e n e st is destroyed by accident A removed, th e birds’
u sually commence a fre sh one on th o same foundation with in a few days, llc id took
ono on «10 1.5th October, an d on tho 21st found a new n e s t read y fo r eggs in th e same
place.”
I n th e Transvaa l H r . Ayres states th a t i t breeds sparsely. I t is th e first of tho
m ig ra to ry Swallows to ap p e ar a t Potehefstroom. “ Two specimens of th is species were
sh o t on th e 1 9 th of Aug u st. By th e 4 th of S eptember th e Swallows were p len tifu l a lo n "
th o n v c r, and by 18 th o f September th ey w ere p a irin g ; a m o u th la te r th ey were m o r¡
dispersed an d n o t seen so plentiful. They feed p rin c ip ally over th e marshes, h u t often
re s t u pon th e ant-heaps in th e open co u n try .” The same gen tleman found th em fairly
p len tifu l on his v isit to th e Lydonhurg d istric t.
Tlio la te Mr. Andersson has tho following note on llm itu lo ruslica “ This well-
known species is p r e tty common in Dam ara Land an d G reat Namaqua L au d d u r in " th e
ra in y season, and I have found it very numerous a t Walvisch Bay and in o th er looahties
n e a r tho coast. I n uncivilized p a rts of Africa these SwaUows alli.v th e ir uests to some
projec tion o f a ro ck o r tru n k of a tree , or occupy cavities in rocks or hanks.” On th is
p o in t 1 1 1 ’. Seebohm observes :—
“ Andersson, in h is ‘ B irds of Dam ara L an d ,’ rem ark s o f H . rusiica th a t i t breeds in
th a t co uutry ; b u t th e re can be little d o u b t th a t th e Swallow wliich he supposed to bo
o ur species was th e W h ite -th ro ated Swallow (IT. albigularis), which ho does n o t mention
and which ho p robably mistook for th e female o f our bird. Uis fu rth e r rem a rk th a t
in consequence of tho scarcity o t houses i t breeds in rocks and trees, adds still more
d oubt to th e accura cy of his observations. I have seen th o Common Swallow broedin"
u n d e r overhanging cliffs in th e Dobrudsoha, b u t I never beard of its liaving been found
n estin g in a tre e .”
I n favour of Mr. Soebohm's th eo ry we may mention th a t tile Kn ysna specimens in
th e B ritish Mu seum were originally labelled by Mr. Andersson “ JI. ru stica -," b u t i t is
evident th a t lie found o u t his mistake, for in bis own h an dwritin g tho name “ I I. rufi-
frOHS ” has been su b stitu ted . A t th e tim e o f his w ritin g the book on tbo Bii-ds of
Dam ara L au d bo m u st have been perfe ctly aware o f tb o differences between these two
Swallows, and wo h av e never seen a specimen o f II. albigularis from Dam ara Land. A t
presen t, therefore, wo a re n o t inclined to accept Mr. Scebolim's correction of Mr.
Aiulcrsson’s supposed m istake, tliougli we adm it tb a t his account of th e n e stin g of
U. rustica in Dam a ra Lan d is very similar to tb a t of II. albigularis in N a ta l, as recorded
by Colonel Butler.
I n th e L isbon Museum is a single specimen of tb is spocies, from Angola, procured
b y Mr. F u rta d o d'Antas. IVe have already a lluded to its occurreiieo a t Maliudi, in La st
Africa.
O n r descriptions aro tak e u from th e series in tbo B ritish Museum, and tb e figure
ill the P la te from a bird iu Captain Shelley’s collection.