Mr. Layard's 'Birds of South Africa.' 153 



The discovery of this new African Swallow being due to Mr. 

 Layard^s remarkable and acute detection of its nest in a pho- 

 tograph taken during the first visit of His Royal Highness 

 the Duke of Edinburgh to the Cape, this circumstance may be 

 commemorated, and, as it seems to me, very appropriately, by 

 designating this species " Prince Alfred's Swallow/' and Dr. 

 Hartlaub has acted on my suggestion to this efifect in describing 

 it under the name of Hirundo alfredi. , 



Dr. Hartlaub writes to me respecting this addition to the 

 list of African Swallows in the following words : — 



"The Swallow is very certainly new. Layard describes it 

 under the name of H. lunifrons. Your specimen is a younger 

 bird ; it belongs to the American section of H. fulva and H. 

 lunifrons." 



I am further indebted to Dr. Hartlaub for the following: 

 diagnosis of Hirundo alfredi : — 



" Suj^ra fusco et chalybeo variegata, cauda emarginata et alls 

 fuscis ; uropygio et supracaudalibus ex parte dilute ex auran- 

 tiaco rufis ; subtus albicans, pectore, hypochondriis et subala- 

 ribus la3te rufescentibus ; vitta brevi utrinque a rostro super 

 oculum extendente rufa; crisso tt subcaudalibus ex parte 

 intense rufis ; rostro nigro, Gula albido et rufescente variegata. 



" Long, circa 5", rostr. 3"', al. 4" 3'" ; caud. 2". 



" In a younger (?) specimen, there are traces of a dark pec- 

 toral band, and the superciliary line is more like a rufous whitish 

 loral spot. It seems to me very possible that neither the bird 

 described in Mr. Layard's new work, nor that submitted to my 

 examination by Mr. J. H. Gurney is quite adult.'' 



I cannot concur in Dr. Hartlaub's suggestion that the last- 

 named specimen is immature; as it is the male of a pair shot 

 from a colony at the period of incubation, and sent to Mr. Tris- 

 tram, with some eggs taken from the adjoining nests at the 

 same time ; two of these eggs, together with the male bird here 

 described, have been figured by Mr. Wolf in the accompanying 

 plate (Plate IV.) ; the female specimen only differs from the male 

 in having a rather slighter intermixture of steel-blue on the 

 feathers of the gorget and less distinct pale brown margins on 

 those of the occiput. 



M 2 



