CYPSELUS APUS. 91 
odd times. This is curious, but a similar thing happens with Cotyle © 
paludicola, which we ourselves saw in the depth of winter hawking 
over a river in the Strandveldt. 
The following is an extract from our diary with respect to the 
migration of the Swifts and Swallows :— We have this year (1861) 
kept a strict watch over their time of departure. The result has 
been as follows :— 
“April 9th. C. apus and C. caffer about in abundance. Hirundo 
eucullata come into town, the other swallows having left us. 
“ April 27th. Large flocks of C. apus flying at a great altitude, 
and screaming ; these were observed at night-fall—in fact just at 
dark. 
| “May 3rd, morning. C.apus and C. melba in the upper regions, 
trending to the northward. 
“May 30th. Several specimens of C. apus flying about the top of 
the ‘ Lion’s Rump,’ in company with a flock of Cotyle fuliqgula— 
three shot. After this they disappeared, with the exception of 
Cotyle fuligula, which remains with us all the year.” 
In 1867 the Swifts first arrived on the 3rd of August, and in 1868 
they were noticed on the 28th of that month, about which time Mr. 
L. Layard also saw them at Swellendam. Victorin has recorded the 
species from the Karroo, and he shot it at the Knysna in August. 
Mr. Rickard has procured this Swift both at East London and Port 
Elizabeth, and in Natal Mr. Ayres says they ‘may be seen more or 
less all the year round, but are more plentiful in summer. They are 
generally in numbers, their flight being exceedingly rapid and mostly 
at a considerable height: their food consists of small insects.” 
According to Mr. Andersson, it is common in Damara and Great 
Namaqua Land during the rainy season. It has likewise been sent 
from the Rio Chimba in Mossamedes by Senor Anchieta. 
We have remarked that here they are not in the habit, as in 
Europe, of chasing each other round lofty buildings, uttering pierc- 
ing cries and throwing up their wings. This evolution is performed 
by C. caffer, and we are inclined to attribute it to some love-gambol, 
as C. caffer breeds here, and C. apus does not. The latter, however, 
constantly utters shrill screams when at a great altitude in the air; 
and our attention has thus often been called to flocks that would 
otherwise have escaped our notice. 
General colour black, with a greenish reflexion on the mantle and 
