I b
1 1-opresontative of our Common M a rtin , from wliioh species i t differs
ail, and in th e colour of th e u p p e r tail-eoverts, which are p u re white
T u is is th e easte rn i
in its less forked tail,
like th e rum p , whereas in O. urhica th ey a re hlack.
I t ranges from th e valley ot tho Yen-o-say Biver across Siberia, and even occurs in
Kam tsch a tk a, according to Pa lla s ; h u t on th is poin t Dr. Stejneger writes “ No th in g
definite is known, and th o sta temen t is v e ry d oubtful, th o u g h it may h e remembered
th a t it is said to occur a t Gischigiiisk.” Pa llas states th a t i t nests in houses and is
stric tly pro te c ted hy th e natives, who do n o t like to see th e birds shot. I t builds under
rafters an d roofs of houses, and he says t h a t in th e sandy hanks of th e Irtiso h lUver it
makes holes in th e river-banks. This last s ta tem en t m ay h e received with some douht.
I ll D au u ria tho same a u th o r states th a t it also breeds, a rriv in g th e re in April, and th a t
th e nests are similar to those of C. nrbioa. Dr. Dybowski m et with th e species on the
A rg u n lliv e r in Dauuria, and Dr. Taczanowski says th a t th e species is common over the
whole of E a ste rn Siberia and ex tends to th e so u th e rn border of th o U ssu ri country.
Radde collected a specimen on th e 9 th of May a t Tarei-nor. H e says th a t the
species comes d u rin g th e last days of April. IIo saw it on tho 26th of th a t mo n th in
Kiachta, and to th e eastw.ard o f th e Apple Mo u n tain s i t was also observed about tho
same tim e n e a r Tscliita. D u rin g von Middendorff’s travels in Siberia, h e saw a flock on
tlie 10 th of May ou th e western slope of tlie Stanovoi Mountains, and ag ain he noticed
i t on th e Y'en-e-say lliv e r a t a b o u t 70° N. lat. H e also states th a t i t comes yearly to
T u ru ch u n s’k.
Von Sohrenk mentions th a t a specimen was procnred by him a t N e rtsch in sk on the
7th of M ay. Ho never mot with it in Lower Amoor-Land, and he draws a tten tio n to tho
fa c t th a t Middcndorff only found i t on tho western slope of th e Stanovoi Mountains, and
n o t in th e Udskoi Ostrog distric t, which is continuous with Lower Amoor Land. Eroiii
th is h e g a th ers th a t th o M a rtin s only rem ain in these districts d u rin g m igration, and
th a t th ey pass ou to live in th e inaccessible mountains, and so th ey escape th e observa-
tion of th e traveller.
Dr. Dybowski says th a t in E a s te rn Siberia th is M a rtin is common a t th e beginning
o t May, b uilding u nder th e oaves of houses. A few pa irs were found a t th e foot of n aked
spurs 'o f th e Chaiiiardaban Mountains. They were also n estin g on th e rocks near a
wate rfall on th e riv e r Bvstra, about 4000 feet above tho level of Lak e Baikal. Ho also
saw it near th e Changiiisk post, about 4300 feet above tho sea-level. Six or eig h t eggs
are laid in th e middle of Ju n e . Tliey leave tho vicinity of K u ltu k towards th e end of
A u g u s t or th e begin n in g of September.
Tho following note on the speeies is given by Mr. H en ry Seebohm in his account ot
ills trav els in S i b e r i a “ This hird was tlic only Chelidon which I obtained on the
Yen-o-say. Several pairs arrived on th o Arc tic circle about the 11 th of J u n e , and were
soon busy h awking fo r flies and cxamiiiing th e ir old nests. I n tlie village of Koo-ray-i-
k a opposite tho m o u th of th e river of th a t name, th ey sn an n o d in thousands. The n e s t
exactly resembles th a t of our House-AIartin, b u t th e birds seemed to be very capricious
in selecting a house where th ey m ig h t tru s t th e ir young. One house in p a rticu la r seemed
to be th e f av o u rite ; and here th e eaves were crowded with rows of nests, in some place's
th re e o r fo u r deep. The eggs are, if anything, larg e r th au those of our bird, b u t are also
p u re white. I observed th is bird up to GO® N. lat., where a few pairs were breeding. I
could n o t perceive any difference in th e habits or notes of these birds and those of our
own species. On th e r e tu rn jo u rn ey I noticed a colony, doubtless of these birds, wliich
had b u ilt th e ir nests ag a in st tbe limestone cliffs of th e K a h ’-nin Pass, as onr bird frequ
en tly does in th e limestone districts o f Y’orksliirc, th e Parnassus, &c. As I passed
th ro u g h Yen-e-saisk in th e middle of A ug u st, th e House-Alartins were swarming on the
church-towers, preparing for d ep artu re on tlieir a u tum n m igration. W hen these Swallows
began to make preparations for breeding, th e ‘ Thames ’ was riding a t anchor in the Koo-
ray-i-ka. Some scores of these birds evidently took a great fancy to the ship, and began
to build th eir nests on th e sails u nder tlie yard-arms.”
According to th e late Dr. Severtzoff th e present species occurs on passage in
Turkestan, and probably breeds th e r e ; b u t h e did n o t m eet with i t ou th e Pamir.
General Prjevalsky found it breeding in Alongolia, to the n orth-east of Y’ulduz.
Ah’. Fleming, H.A., procured a specimen n e a r P ek in which th e late Air. Swinhoe
described as a new' species u n d e r th e name of Chelidon whitehji, tliougli h e soon afterwards
found th a t i t was th e same as C. lagopus. “ This specimen,” lie writes, “ is the
only one of th is species from China th a t I have ever handled ; an d the only tim e th a t 1
ever saw the bird alive was on tho 8 th of April, 18G9, when, on some hills n e a r th e river
Yangtsze, about 1000 miles up its course, a p a ir of w hito-rumped Alartius flew ab o u t over
th e heads of our party , in company w ith many D au u rian and a few Common Swallows.”
Abbe David has also met with th e species in China, n estin g on th e lofty rocks o f the
mountains to tlie west of Pekin, as well as a t Aloupin and in th e Central provinces.
They seemed to differ from th e Common Alartin iu th a t they were nowhere plentiful,
and h e never obsei'ved them in towci’s or in tlie immediate vicinity of buildings.
From tbe above resume of this bird ’s history i t will be seen th a t we do n o t know
much of its winter home. Colonel Tiekell writes th a t lie found Alartins in great numbers
ne ar Aloulmein in Burmali, whore they “ appear from time to t im e ; n o t constantly, as
docs U . rustica.” From Tickell’s description an d figure th ere is, as Air. Seebohm has
pointed o u t (Hist. Brit. B. ii. p. 179, note), no doubt about the spocies, as th e bird is
described and figured with th e u pper tail-covcrts white ; b u t no one has m et wifh i t in
Burtnah since—n eith er Air. Oates, Ca])tain Bingham, n or Air. Davison—and i t c annot bo
considered a regular winter visitant to th a t country. Colonel Tickcll would seem to have
been witness to a n accidental migration of the speeies.
The description and the figure in th e P la te arc both taken from a specimen kindly
len t to us by Air. Seebohm.
x 2