74 Mr. J. H. Gurney, Jun., on the Ornithology of Algeria, 



13. HiRUNDo RUSTiCA, Linn. Swallow. 



Although I was not guilty of shooting a Swallow, I include 

 it in my list for the sake of saying that it is a mistake to sup- 

 pose that this bird or any of the European llirundinidse except 

 Cotyle rupestris (the most stay-at-home of all that family) ])ass 

 the winter in Algeria. It was not until the end of February that 

 I first observed the Swallow ; and I am convinced that few, if any, 

 remain thi-oughout the year. " The natives," says Dr. Tristram, 

 " are perfectly familiar with the fact of the migration of vast 

 flocks to the south, which all go, as they say, to Timbuctoo, the 

 El Dorado of Arab and Swallow " (Ibis, 1859, p. 434). On the 

 26th and 27th of March we experienced a very cold wind at Lag- 

 houat; so benumbed were the poor Swallows that hundreds 

 might have been killed with stones. The poor birds were to be 

 seen sitting about in all directions. I am inclined to think they 

 were suffering from cold, rather than the want of insect food. 

 Insect life appeared to me to be always abundant. 



14. Cotyle rupestris (Scop.). Rock-Swallow. 



I noticed a considerable difference in size in specimens shot 

 near the ravine of La Chiffa. 



15. Chelidon urbica (Linn.). House-Martin. 



First seen flying over the barracks at Elida on the 17th of 

 February. On the 18th they were repairing their old nests at 

 Miliana. The cold wind of ]\Iarch 27th so far affected them 

 that I found many in the early morning upon the sand, and 

 others clinging to the mud-brick walls which partition off the 

 gardens. I caught some Avith my hat, which will give an idea 

 of their extreme feebleness. At Guelt el Stel they nest in the 

 mountains. 



16. Cotyle rip aria (Linn.). Sand-Martin. 

 Common in summer. 



17. Merops apiaster, Linn. Bee-eater. 



Arrives in flocks about the 1st of April. In their buoyant 

 and graceful flight they are not unlike Martins. It is when de- 

 scending that the resemblance is especially seen. Few birds 

 surpass the Bee-eater in beauty as it glides nearly motionless 



