X£STS AXD EGCS 01- ALSTKALIAX HIHDS. ^73 



notes of the arrival and doparluie of this and many other birds from 

 tliis part of the Stat<- during a period extending over nianj' years, and 

 I am of tlic opinion that the Wood Swallows aj-e regular summer 

 migi-ants to South Victoria. The following arc the dates of arrival 

 and dcpartiu'e during the last seven yeai's : — 



" It will thus be seen that they retinn to us with great regularity. 

 Towards the end of summer I often see imiiien.se flocks of the common 

 sort. Arf/imiis surd id ux, flying at a great height, and uttering an almost 

 continuous cry, very different to their iisual call. The Masked, or 

 White-browed varieties do not associate with the others. I occasion- 

 ally see families of tliose vaiieties occupying particular spots. The 

 Wood Swallows have a cimous habit of occasionally roosting together 

 in flocks. At such times they select any overhanging biunit out tree 

 or get under a sheet of overhanging bark and aiTange themselves like 

 a swarm of bees. They only collect together in such a manner at 

 certain periods. I have taken their nests out of hollow stumps and 

 green bushes. They are not particular where they build so long as the 

 position is sheltered." 



Mr. S. W. Jackson, Clarence River (New South Wales), writes: — 

 " With regard to the Wood Swallow (Artdiinm sun/idiis), these birds 

 arrived here on August 1st bust year (1895) ; other years earlier. 



" Wliile returning home the other day on my bicycle, after doing 

 a days nesting, I found a nest of Arlitinus sordidus built in an upright 

 fork of a spotted eucalyptus. I climbed the tree, and tlie nest con- 

 tained three fresh eggs. These birds leave the district again in 

 February, sometimes Januaiy, therefore they remain here six to seven 

 iiionths. from August to Februai-y." 



Apparently some Wood Swallows when building are fastidious if 

 watched too closely by an observer. A pair which our field 

 naturalist, Mr. Robert Hall, must have had designs upon, transfen-ed 

 their nest three times, then fovu'th and finally removed it back to its 

 original site before the eggs were laid. 



Mr. Hermann Lau's Queensland note on the common Wood 

 Swallow is: — "More plainly di'essed than the White-browed 

 Swallow, and is by far more distributed over the whole of the Darling 

 Downs, in the black and sandy localities alike, and remains through the 

 winter. Never foruid the nest of this species on the black soil, but 

 frequently on the sandy soil in the neighbourhood of Pike's Creek. 

 It builds in a eucalypt sapling clump, about eight feet from the ground. 

 November, 1873." 



