408 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST, SOCIETY, Vol. XXVIII. 
127. White-throated Robin. Irania gutturalis. 
Irania gutturalis, Guérin (Rev. Zool., 1843, p. 162—Abyssinia). 
This species appears to be a scarce passage migrant and was only noticed in 
Spring ; it is probably commoner than the records indicate however, as it is an 
arch skulker. Pitman met with two pairs in willows and scrub at Feluja be- 
tween April 27th and May 3rd and obtained one specimen, he found them almost 
impossible to beat out of the scrub they inhabited. Cheesman met with a pair 
at Sheik Saad on April 5th hopping about a stack of brushwood in some grass. 
Magrath noted it at Basra as early as March 25th and Armstrong found severah 
pairs at Fao on April 22nd. At Urfa Weigold records odd birds on April 15th. 
and 28th. Zarudny gives it as a passage migrant and also as a winter visitor im 
small numbers in the Karun district. It breeds in the Zagros and the highlands 
of W. Persia. 
128. Wren. Troglodytes troglodytes. subsp., ? 
Logan Home says that he saw one or two Wrens in sheltered nullahs at Kelat 
Shergat in winter and one on the uplands at Tekrit in a ravine in December. 
Ludlow saw one at Hit on March 8th. Without specimens it is impossible to say 
what Wren visits Mesopotamia. hyrcanus has been described from N. Persia, 
zagrossiensis from the Zagross Mountains in 8. W. Persia by Zarudny and 
Loudon, while according to the former another race subpallidus inhabits 
Khorasan. 
No Accentors are recorded from Mesopotamia. 
129. Common Swallow. Hirundo rustica. 
Hirundo rustica rustica, L. (Syst. Nat. Ed. x, p. 191, 1758—Sweden). 
The Common Swallow may be said to be a summer visitor, though in parts of 
Mesopotamia, such as Fao, they are only entirely absent during December and 
January. ‘The first ones may be looked for from the 10th to 20th of February, but 
in some places, or more probably in some years, quite a number have put in an 
appearance by the middle of the month. Thus at Samarra and Sheik Saad in 
1918 they were numerous by mid-February (first seen on 5th and 10th respectively): 
and had even started to build, though March is the more usual month for nesting 
to begin. They breed throughout the area in suitable localities, choosing varied 
sites, huts of natives and telegraph buildings (Fao) and houses in most places, 
cliffs and even tent poles of the camps. As elsewhere two or more broods are 
probably raised as fresh eggs are reported on April 20th, and young on the wing 
on April 26th. Many move off again at the end of August and they are scarce 
early in September. 
The numbers seem to fluctuate during this month probably due to passage 
migrants, as many must pass through Mesopotamia to and from breeding grounds 
further north. I noted them crossing the head of the Persian Gulf on March 
20th when the local birds would be settled down to nest. The last seen in autumn 
were in the last days of October. 
Three skins examined; ¢, Bagubah, 29-7-18 (P. A. B.); Kazimain, 
27-3-19 (P. Z. C. and R. E. C.); Samarra, 3-18 (C. R. P.). 
These are not to be differentiated from the European bird. Pitman records 
that at Felujaon March 19th—31st he saw a few pairs of Swallows with chestnut 
red underparts and again a few at Samarra in February. They did not appear to 
him to be so deep a red as the Egyptian bird, and they were evidently on passage. 
His description of course tallies well with the Palestine form transitiva which 
might wander to this part of Mesopotamia, but in absence of specimens I cannot 
definitely include it. 
Weigold only met with the typical form at Urfa. 
