17. —S- Mr. H.. Seebohm on the Ornithology of Siberia. 
CHELIDON LAGoPoDA (Pall.). ) 
In the ‘ Proceedings’ of the Zoological Society, 1862, p. 320, 
Swinhoe described a Martin which differs from ours in having 
the upper tail-coverts white to the tips of the feathers, and 
the axillaries and wing-lining dark brown. 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 lagopeda 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 
oldnests. 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 thing, 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 cliffs 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. 
CorTyYLeE 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 
[60] 
