^0 Major J. Stevenson Hamilton on 



Coracias garrulus. — The European Roller was here in very 

 large numbers during the months o£ November, December, 

 and January ; one I kept in captivity for a few days 

 became very tame. From the beginning of February the 

 numbers steadily decreased. On the 10th March, not having 

 seen any for some time, I went carefully through their usual 

 haunts, and in the course of the dny only observed one ; 

 since that date I have not seen any. 



C. caudatus is apparently resident here. During the summer 

 ffarrulus far exceeded in numbers any of the other species. 

 South-easterly winds have predominated since January up to 

 tlie end of April. Garrulus was generally to be seen in large 

 numbers wherever there were young locusts or grasshoppers; 

 I never saw them in pairs, but always either collected in 

 numbers or as single birds. 



Sivalloivs. — A pair of HirundojnieUa bnilt a nest and brought 

 out their young under the shelter of my verandah. They 

 began to build early in October, and the young ones left the 

 nest on 20th February. As soon as they had done so the 

 birds disappeared, and I did not observe them again. On 

 April 14th during a heavy rainstorm, 15 birds, which I 

 judged from their size to be II. cucullata and not puella, 

 perched on a small bare tree with their backs to the rain, and 

 stayed so throughout the downfall. Their conduct was in 

 striking contrast to that of H. rustica and H. alhigidaris, 

 which were fluttering about and seeking shelter under the 

 eaves of the roof, and even inside the house. I have not 

 seen H. cucullata nor II. puella since that date. 



H. rustica were here throughout the summer. Every 

 evening I used to see about fifty hawking insects or perched 

 together with alhigularis and dimidiata on the telegraph- 

 wires. 



On my return from a short absence upon March 5th, the 

 wind having meantime been S.E., I saw no Swallows at all 

 for a few days. About the 12th there suddenly appeared a 

 very large concourse of H. rustica, and for more than a week 

 several hundred birds were to be seen every evening. These 

 ao-ain disappeared during some wet and windy weather, and 



