870 JOURNAL, BOMB AY NATURAL HLST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXVIL 



Biparia riparia (L) — Sand Martin. 



The Sand Martin appeared at Enzeli on 3rd May ; on 28tli May Cheesman 

 saw a large colony breeding near Kangavar. No specimens were obtained by 

 either of us, though the birds presumably belong to the typical race of the species. 



Biparia rupestris, Scop. — Crag Martin. 

 1 J , near Menjil — 15th July. 

 Crag Martins are common all along the road 20-30 mUes south of Menjil wher- 

 ever there are cliffs. The birds are not there in winter ; I do not know the 

 actual date of their arrival, but I first saw them on 27th March, and they bred 

 commonly. I have seen the nest, but never been able to reach it. 



Coracias garrulus, L. — European RoUer. 



Rollers arrived 14th April at Enzeli. By the 24th they were paired and 

 common. They bred commonly at Resht and Enzeli, several pairs in the 

 ruined look-out in the middle of Enzeli town. Cheesman saw them breeding in 

 trees at Gulahak, 11th June. 



All my specimens have miscarried ; Zarudny records C. g. garrulus on 

 migration through the Caspian Province, N. W. Persia, &c., but has no breed- 

 ing records for it ; he records C. g. semenowi breeding in N. W. Persia and the 

 Caspian provinces and many other parts of the country. 

 Micropus {Cypselus) apus pelcinensis (Swtnhoe) — Swift. 

 1 <S, Hassanabad, 29th May (R. E. C). 



1 5,Qazvin, 20th June (R. E. C). 



Cheesman noticed this bird at Hassanabad, " very plentiful, breeding in 

 crevices of mud-walled houses in all villages ". The two specimens belong 

 undoubtly to C. a. pehinensis a<nd not to C. a. manvitzi^ Rehw, which is the 

 form one might on geographical ground have expected to find. 



Merops apiaster, L. — Common Bee-Eater. 



The Common Bee-Eater arrived at Resht in the third week of April, and was 

 seen at Enzeli on 30th April. It remained fairly common throughout the sum- 

 mer, and I also saw it at Astara, Menjil, Qazvin, and Cheesman saw it frequent- 

 ing its nesting burrows at Kermanshah on 26th May. This species was 

 common at Tehran as late as 12th October. 



Upupa epops epops, L — European Hoopoe. 



2 rf , Enzeli— 14th March— 27th April. 



A single Hoopoe appeared on 14th March at Enzeli, but I saw no other until 

 16th April after which they were seen rather infrequently through the summer. 

 On 3rd July I saw. a pair feeding fledged young in a hole in a willow tree at 

 Astara. Hoopoes were nesting commonly in bridges near Hamadan, and no- 

 ticed carrying food as early as 30th May (R. E. C), and family parties were 

 common at Qazvin at the end of July. In June a pair had a nest in a hole in a 

 chimney at the British Legation, Tehran, and another pair in a tree at Gulhak 

 had nearly fledged young " (R. E. C). 



Alcedo atthis pallasii, Rchb. — Common Kingfisher. 

 (A. ispida pallasii.) 



1 c? , 2 $ ,EnzeU — February — March. 



lc?(lst plumage), Astara — 4th July. 



1 sex ? Bandar -i-Gez — 12th January (C. M. 1.). 

 I saw the common Kingfisher at Kermanshah in November 1918, but the 

 only specimen obtained was eaten by a cat. It is a common resident on the 

 Enzeli lagoon, and the streams which run into it and was also common at Astara 

 in July. The measurements of the specimens from EnzeU are as follows : — 

 Male, wing 73, culmen 39 ; females, wing 74 and 73, culmen 37 and 34 mm. 



