454 NKHTS AND EGGS UI- AUSTNALlAiV BIKDH. 

 379. CUEJIAMCECA LEUCOSTEEKUM, Gould. (57) 



BLACK AND WHITE SWALLOW. 



Figure. — Gould ; Birds of Australia, fol., vol. ii., pi. 12. 

 Reference. — Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., vul. .\., p. 171. 



Previoui Descriptions of t-ggs. — Gould : Birds of Australia, HauJ- 

 book, vol. i., p. 115 (1S65) ; Diggles : Companion Gould's 

 Handbook, p. 98 (1877) ; North : Ausln. Mas. Cat., p. 54 

 (1889), also app., pi. 13, tig. 15 (i8go). 



Geoyruphical Distribution. — Literior of Queensland (probably), New 

 South. Wales, Victoria, South, West, and North-west Australia. 



Xest. — A hole about two inches in diameter, drilled into a bank, 

 usually in sandy soil, rmiuing hoiizontally for from one foot to three 

 feet, and exjjauchng into a chamber which is lined with a handful or 

 two of portions of dried grasses and lea\'es, or, as the case ttiiy be, 

 with bits of seaweed and fine wire-like rootlets. 



Eggs. — Clutch, four to five, occasionally six ; inclined to oviii, but 

 sometimes lengthened in form ; textvu'e of shell very fine ; surface 

 slightly glossy; coloiu', pme white. Dimensions in inches of a clutch: 

 (1) -68 X -49, (2) -68 x -49, (3) -67 x -49, (4) -66 x -48. 



Ohservations. — This is a stationai-y species, being confined chiefly to 

 the interior and western provinces of the Continent, but it occasionally 

 approaches the sea-board, as in South and West Australia. Gould states 

 the Black and \Vhite Swallow is generally seen in small flocks of from 

 ten to twenty in number, sometimes in company with other Swallows. 

 It usually flies very liigh, a circumstance which renders it difficult to 

 procm"e specimens. But if it flies high it certainly nests low, for on the 

 authority of Gilbert, Gould states that in Western Australia tliis 

 bird chooses for its nest the deserted hole of animals, notably the 

 dalgyte ( Peragalea higotia)^ or the boodee (a species of Bettoiigia), but 

 more generally drills holes in the sides of banks. Mr. Johnson 

 Drummond informed Gilbert that he had frequently foimd seven, eight, 

 or nine eggs in a single nest, from which he inferred that more than 

 one female lays in the same nest. It would seem that the holes are 

 not constructed exclusively for the purpose of nidification, for upon 

 Gilbert inserting a long grass stalk into one of them, five birds made 

 their way out, all of which he succeeded in catching ; upon his digging 

 to the extremit)', in the hope of procitfing their eggs, no nest was 

 found, and hence he concluded that their holes are also used as 

 places of resort for the night. 



In Western Australia I noticed small families of this Swallow flying 

 about Geraldton. Champion Bay. The residents informed me that 

 they burrowed in the vicinitj' not far inland. 



