120 Letters, Announcements, ^c. 



season of Cypsehs apus, I was returning from a visit to a 

 brother "Ibis/' Captain Sperling, of H.M.S. 'Racoon/ on the 

 3rd inst., and, while on the road from Simon's Town, I saw a 

 large flock of Swifts wheeling round and round at a very great 

 height. In the clear air of the early morning I could distinctly 

 make out that the species was not C. melba. It may have 

 been C. caffer ; but my conviction, the more I think of it, is 

 that they were all C. apus. I have not seen any since that 

 date. Whither have they gone ? were they only here on a 

 tour of inspection ? what small insects frequent these immense 

 altitudes to tempt them ? I hope our friend Mr. Andersson, who 

 is a long way up the west coast, somewhere about the Cunene 

 River, may have noted their passage. Could not a series of 

 lines of observation be established by means of your correspon- 

 dents for noting the passage of migratory birds ? We might 

 get some proximate observations at last. I could command the 

 whole of the southern extremity of Africa; as there are many 

 observers all along the coast as far us Natal who will gladly 

 help me. 



I may add that I saw a single Hirundo rustica on the 27th 

 July, and another on the same day as the Swifts just mentioned. 

 Our looked-for usual flight of Quails has not yet arrived thus 

 far, though I have heard of them in limited numbers to the 

 eastward these three weeks or more. 



My 'Birds of South Africa' were hatched last week. I have 

 directed my publisher to send you a copy. Don't spare the 

 blunders in it, Mr. Editor ! Cut them up. I wish the book to 

 be of use ; and to perpetuate an error is not being useful. I am 

 going to have the first shot at it ; and so here goes. The bird 

 described as Graculus carho (No. 698) is not so, but G. lucidus 

 (Licht.) (Schlcg., Mus. P.-B. Pelecani, p. 12). Still, unless I 

 am much mistaken, we have G. carbo also, or its ghost ! The 

 specimen from which my description (B, S. Afr. p. 380) was 

 taken was identified in England as G. carbo ; but the other day, 

 on my visit to Capt. Sperling, we had a cruise in Simon's Bay 

 to shoot sea-fowl for the museum. Capt. Sperling shot, from a 

 lot of Cormorants congregated at the top of the Noah's-ark 

 Rock, a bird which, on being lifted into the boat, I instantly 



