portion is occupied by a narrow entrance. The eggs are pure white, five or six in
number, and are deposited in the wider part of the nest, which is lined with hair, wool,
and feathers. The young leave the nest about the middle of summer; but in a single
instance we found, on the 20th of September, in Diu-jiian-in, close to the Ala-shan
Mountains, a nest with some unilodged youing in it.
“ It arrives in S.E. Mongolia much later than IIirundo guliuralis [i. e. about the
10th of May), although in the mountains of Kalgan we once observed it on the 23rcl of
April. The first birds in Kan-su were seen on the 14th of May. The autumnal migration
takes place in the early part of September; and on the 12th of this month we saw
a large flock about the river Tetunga, which occupied about two hours in passing us.
In the Ussuri country wo only once observed it.”
As regards the winter habitat of this Swallow we do not know much. Mr. Seebohm
says that it winters in Mongolia and Tibet, and we know that it goes to Assam and
Cachar. It may even be resident here, as Mr. Ilume’s specimens of II. intermedia from
Sadhyia, in Assam, were killed in June; but these were probably early winter arrivals,
or laggards behind the main body of northward migrants. The type of II. substriolata
of Hume came from Cachar, and is undoubtedly II. daurica. A slight error occurs in
Mr. Oates’s book, for he considers that “ two specimens from Cachar, February (types of
Lillia stihslriolata, Hume),” belong to B. striolata; but these cannot be the types of
L. substriolata, as they were shot in February 1879, whereas Mr. Hume’s bird was
described in 1877. There was only one Cachar speciincu in his collection at that date,
and consequently it must bo the typical one, which we refer without hesitation to
II. daurica.
The descriptions are taken from specimens in tlie British Museum, aud the figure
is drawn from a Daurian specimen in Mr. Seebohm’s collection.