Mr. H. Seebohm on the Ornithology of Siberia. 17 



Chelidon lagopoda (Pall.). 



In the ' Proceedings ' of the Zoological Society, 1863, p. 320, 

 Svvinhoe described a Martin which differs from ours in having 

 the upper tail-coverts white to the tips of the feathers, and 

 the axillaries and Aving-lining dark broAvn. He gave it the 

 name of C. whitelyi; but in ' The Ibis," 1874, p. 152, he pointed 

 out that it is identical with the Hirundo lagopoda of Pallas. 

 This bird was the only Chelidon which I obtained on the Yen- 

 e-say'. Several pairs arrived on the Arctic circle on the 11th of 

 June, and were soon busy hawking for flies and examining their 

 old nests. In the village of Koo-ray'-i-ka, opposite the mouth 

 of the river of that name, they swarmed in thousands. The 

 nest exactly resembles that of our House-Martin; but the birds 

 seemed to be very capricious in selecting a house where they 

 might trust their young. One house in particular seemed to 

 be the favourite ; and here the eaves were crowded with rows 

 of nests, in some places three or four deep. The eggs are, if 

 any thiug, larger than those of our bird, but also pure white. 

 I observed this bird up to lat. 69°, where a few pairs were 

 breeding. I could not perceive any difference in the habits 

 or notes of these birds and those of our own species. On the 

 return journey I noticed a colony, doubtless of these birds, 

 which had built their nests against the limestone clifPs of the 

 Kah'-nin Pass, as our bird frequently does in the limestone 

 districts of Yorkshire, the Parnassus, &c. As I passed through 

 Yen-e-saisk' in the middle of August, the House-Martins 

 were swarming on the church-towers, preparing for departure 

 on their autumn migration. 



When these Swallows began to make preparations for breed- 

 ing, the ' Thames ' was riding at anchor in the Koo-ray'-i-ka. 

 Some scores of these birds evidently took a great fancy to 

 the ship, and began to build their nests on the sails under the 

 yardarms. 



CoTYLE RiPARiA, Linn. 



The Sand-Martin arrived on the Arctic circle on the 9th 

 of June. Both on the banks of the Ob and the Yen-e-say' 

 large colonies of these birds were frequent. I did not see 



SER. IV. VOL. III. c 



