154 RAMBLES OF A NATURALIST. 



48. Sand Martin, Cotyle riparia (Linn.) ; 

 C. littoralis (Hemp, and Ehr.) 



The first of the spring migrants. On the 21st of February 

 they appeared in large flocks ; after that they became very 

 common, and were daily to be seen by hundreds skimming 

 over the water. On the 6th of March they had commenced 

 nesting operations at Siout, but Canon Tristram seems to 

 have found them breeding in February (Ibis, 1859, p. 27). 

 Long after the 6th of March I saw large flocks which were 

 restlessly pressing northwards, having evidently no fixed 

 abode in Egypt. 



The three specimens which I brought home are lighter 

 than English ones, and the pectoral band is much less 

 strongly marked, besides which there is nearly half an inch 

 difl'erence in the wing, which is longer than in the English 

 bird. I suspect this is the bird referred to by Von Heuglin, 

 but I cannot reconcile it with the description of Cotyle 

 minor (Cab.) given by Mr. Sharpe (P. Z. S., 1870, p. 303). 



49. Pale Crag Swallow, Cotyle obsokta (Cab.) 



Is probably a partial migrant. During April I sometimes 

 observed them skimming over the crops as if they had just 

 come from the south, whereas, when we first saw them, it 

 was only in the mountains. They nest in comparatively 

 accessible places, beneath the overhanging ledges of a cliff, 

 in the Tombs of the Kings, in the Temple at Philoe, etc. 



■^50. Crag Swallow, Cotyle ntpestris (Scop.). 



Mr. C. B. Cory showed me a Crag Swallow which he ob- 

 tained at Girgeh on the i8th of January, which from its 

 large size and dark coloration was I think Cot. rupestris. 

 It had a much darker back than the specimens of C obsoleta 



