14 Dr. A. L. Adams on the Birds of Egypt and Nubia. 



dunes on the banks of the river in Nubia. This species passes the 

 day on the sand of the desert, where it makes a temporary hollow 

 like a nest. 



Cypselus apus. 



The climate of Lower Egypt is apparently too cold for this 

 bird in winter, as I did not observe it until we reached the 

 Thebaid, where and southward it is very plentiful. C. melba was 

 not seen. 



COTYLE RUPESTRIS. 



Is generally distributed over Egypt and Nubia in winter ; at 

 that season it takes the place of C. riparia, which, however, 

 seems to breed in Egypt in February *. I did not notice a 

 single specimen of the latter during my excursion. Flocks of 

 the Crag Swallow may be often seen skimming noiselessly along 

 the surface of the river and stagnant pools, also around the acacia- 

 trees in Nubia, where insects abound ; its easy and compara- 

 tively feeble mode of flight is noticeable, compared with that of 

 the Sand-Martin. The irides of many procured in Egypt were 

 light brown, not yellow. Some males are much darker in plu- 

 mage than others ; this I noted particularly in one individual shot 

 in Upper Egypt. 



HiRUNDO RUSTICA. 



I think I have seen one or two on wing with pale reddish- 

 white lower parts, but the H. rustica orientalis of Schlegel is the 

 Egyptian Swallow. It is plentifully distributed over town and 

 country in Lower Egypt, getting less common southwards. At 

 Thebes it is rare, at least during the cold months; and I did not 

 observe a single individual after leaving that district and pro- 

 ceeding towards the Second Cataract. The Swallows which 

 touch at Malta in spring, on their way northwards, are, as a rule, 

 similar to the northern visitors : some have rufous-white bellies, 

 but none are so deep rufous as the Egyptian specimens, in which 

 the spots on the tail are of the same colour. The measurements 

 of specimens killed in Malta and Egypt were equal. Accord- 

 ing to Wilkinson, the Swallow has been found mummied at 

 Thebes. There is a bird in the hieroglyphics, intended to signify 

 * Tristram, Ibis, 1859, p. 27. 



