M'ujratorij Birds of the Daffulo River Basin. 11 



{Ilirumlo riistica) was present in large numbers in this 

 district. On February 7th I counted 27G of these birds on 

 the telegraph-wires near Green River. The birds tarried 

 till A{)ril, the last being seen at Pirie on April 11th. Having 

 had occasion however, to visit the Zoutpansberg in tlie latter 

 part of April, I found the European Swallow still loitering 

 al)0ut Pietersburg up to the 27th of that month, and near 

 Groot ISpelonken I heard one singing its full song in the air 

 on April 25th. 



The AVhite-throated Swallow [Ilirundo alhi<jularis) was 

 last seen frequenting a rocky })ait of the Buffalo on 

 February 15th. This is by no means the limit of the bird's 

 stay, and the entry is made here simjdy to evoke further 

 details from other observers. 



I happened to be out of the district at the time when the 

 Larger Stripe-breasted Swallow [Hirundo cucullata) normally 

 takes its departure, but I noticed the species still loitering in 

 the Zoutpansberg up to May 10th ; and to my great surprise I 

 met with a small party of these birds at Jafta's, near King- 

 williamstown, on the last day of May. This is one of those 

 erratic movements in migration forming one of the problems 

 still to be solved. 



In connection with the Larger Stripe-breasted Swallow a 

 very interesting point came under observation during the 

 past season. A pair of birds built their nest under the zinc 

 roof of an outhouse in Pirie, and liad already proceeded far 

 with the incubation of their eggs, when, on February 4th. a 

 terrific hailstorm, with stones larger than turkey eggs, swept 

 over Pirie. The stones battering on the roof dislodged the 

 nest, and revealed to our gaze a round egg larger than those 

 of the Swallow amoniist which it had lain. The e<"<>- 

 evidently belonged to a })arasitic bird, and, when opened, was 

 found to contain a well-formed embryo with Zyoodactvlous 

 feet. This proved that the egg was thej)roduce eitiierof the 

 Cuckoo or a Honey-Guide. No one had noticed any bird 

 belonging to these grou})S near the nest, and we could not 

 therefore with certainty identify it ; but we had a strong- 

 presumption that it had been deposited by a Lesser Honey- 



