44 BULLETIN 15 3, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



on May 15 was in full breeding condition, it appears that the season 

 is longer than was previously thought. 



Lynes ^^ found it to be a summer visitor (breeding) in Darfur 

 and Kordofan, although farther to the east, at Khartoum, and the 

 valley of the White Nile generally, it appears to be a resident all 

 the year round. 



HIRUNDO SMITHII SMITHII Leach 



Hlrundo smithii Leach, in Tuckey, Expedition to explore the river Zaire, etc., 



Appendix 4, p. 407, 1818 : Chisalla Island, lower Congo. 

 Specimens cotxected: 1 male. Tana River at month of Thika River, Kenya 



Colony, August 23, 1912. 



The present species contains two races — the typical one, found in 

 northwest, northeast, east, and southwest Africa, and the slightly 

 larger form witli longer attenuated outer rectrices, filifera, of India. 

 The two forms, while recognizable, are not very well marked, as they 

 overlap in size, but as average differences the characters stand out. 



The present specimen is an adult in fine, fresh plumage. 



Several investigators have considered the variations of the African 

 wire-tailed swallow from a geographic standpoint, but the net result 

 of the discussions of Neumann,^^ of Erlanger,'° and of Zedlitz ^^ 

 seems to be that while the metallic sheen is more violaceous in birds 

 from northeastern Africa and from Angola, and more bluish in speci- 

 mens from southern Ethiopia, Somaliland, Kenya Colony, etc., to 

 the Zambesi, yet it is so variable in any one locality that it is not of 

 taxonomic significance. Likewise, the color of the rufous crown 

 patch has been said by various authors ''^ to vary geographically, but 

 this seems to be a matter of wear, new feathers being darker than old 

 abraded ones. 



Throughout its range, this bird seems to be rather local, although 

 by no means uncommon. Brehm noted it along the Red Sea coasts; 

 von Heuglin found it in Ethiopia at altitudes of from 2,500 to 6,000 

 feet. In Uganda it is relatively uncommon, while farther to the east 

 it is one of the most numerous of the swallows. 



Von Heuglin assumed that the birds were breeding in Ethiopia 

 from September to January, although he actually found nests with 

 eggs only in September. He did find a nest with half-fledged nest- 

 lings in November, and, judging by the fact that the males continued 

 singing until January, concluded that the species was more than 

 single-brooded. This is borne out by Erlanger's discovery of two 



68 Ibis, 1925, pp. 127-128. 



68 Journ. fiir Orn., 1005, p. 201. 



'" Ibid., p. 676. 



^» Journ. fiir Orn., 1910, p. 787. 



'2 For example, van Someren, Nov. Zool., vol. 29, p. 91, 1922. 



