362 BIRDS OF SOUTH AFRICA. 
species very abundant, reminding me strongly of C. riparia, from 
which its dull-coloured breast most readily distinguishes it.” Mr. 
T. E. Buckley obtained one specimen out of a flock at Pietermaritz- 
burg. Mr. Thomas Ayres gives the following note on the species in 
Natal :—“ These Martins I have never seen on the coast. I found 
many of them during the winter months about the stream near 
Pietermaritzburg ; they occasionally alighted to rest on the over- 
hanging reeds, where, I have no doubt, they roost at night, ‘as I 
have frequently found them thus perched before the sun rose, 
Sometimes they hunted singly, sometimes in companies ; and their 
flight being very eccentric, I found them difficult to shoot.” The 
same gentleman observes:—“‘ This Martin is as common in the 
Transyaal in June and July as it is in the upper districts of Natal. 
They are fond of following in the course of a river, skimming along 
with rather eccentric flight within a few feet of the surface of the 
water.” Dr. Kirk shot it in the Zambesi as it was “ flying round 
the ship in the Elephant Marsh.” 
This is the smallest of the South African Sand Martins, and is 
distinguished by the entire absence of white spots on the tail 
feathers. 
Adult.—Above brown with lighter edgings to the wing-coverts 
and secondaries; throat and breast greyish brown, the sides of the 
body a little darker brown ; under wing-coverts brown mixed with 
white, abdomen and under tail-coverts pure white ; “ bill and feet 
black ; iris dark hazel” (7. H. Buckley). Total length, 4°7 inches ; 
wing, 4:0; tail, 2:1. 
Young.—Similar to the adult but a little more reddish in colour 
and haying the upper plumage mottled. 
Fig. Le Vaill. Ois. d’Afr. V, pl. 246. 
347. Tiirunpo rustica, European Swallow. 
The fork-tailed Swallows of Africa may be divided into three 
groups, the first of which have the lower back and rump blue like 
the mantle; to this section belong six species, of which the present 
is one. It may be distinguished by the following characters: rufous 
forehead and throat, and rufous-tinged under tail-coverts. 
The European Swallow is a regular and common visitant to the 
Cape Colony, throughout the whole of which it is distributed. In 
1867 the first bird arrived in Cape Town on the 27th of July, and 
