EAST AFRICAN SlUDS. 847 



illPAEIA EUFIGULA Fisch. 



Nest of the Rufous-throated Rock-Martin, containing three 

 eggs, attached to tlie wall of a cattle-shed (Kabete, 6. v. 18). 



HiRUNDO SMiTHi Leach, 



A nest of the Wire-tailed Swallow with three eggs (Moro- 

 goro, 23. vii. 17); with two eggs and apparently deserted (Frere 

 'fown, 1. vii. 19). At Morogoro on 14. ii. 17, 1 made a note that 

 thousands of swallows had been gathering on the telegraph wires 

 for the past few days, apparently for migration. 



HiRUNDO PUELLA UNITATIS Scl. 



The Smaller Stripe-breasted Swallow was associated with the 

 preceding species in the assemblage for migration at Morogoro 

 (14. ii. 17). A dead bird was found upon her nest, which 

 contained three eggs, one of which was plain white (Kongwa, 

 25.iv. 17). 



Along the river these birds nested against the rocks, but almost 

 every house in Morogoro had its nest with the typical long 

 entrance passage of mud. The birds are most persistent, and will 

 continue to build iu rooms, where they are not welcome and where 

 theii' nests are knocked down again and again. The eai'liest date 

 at which I found a nest at Morogoro was on 25. vi. 17, and the 

 latest 15. viii. 17. Three eggs is the invariable clutch. 



On 23. vii. 17, I found a nest with no entrance tunnels, and 

 broke a small hole into it, but found no eggs. On again exam- 

 ining it a few days later, there were three eggs, and the hole 

 I had made had been neatly finished off" with mud to form a 

 window or third outlet. In one instance I opened a nest care- 

 fully, and found three eggs ; two were white witli faint reddish 

 speckles and the third pure white (23. vii. 17) ; these I took. On 

 1. viii. 17, 1 again visited the nest ; the small hole I had made had 

 been repaired, and three eggs again laid of which one only was 

 white. On 15. viii. 17 a third visit was made, and again three eggs 

 found of which one was white. A fortnight later the hole had 

 been again I'epaired, and the bird was sitting. I did not molest 

 her further, as such persistence deserved its reward, and it was 

 the variation in the clutches that caused me to rob her. 



Calling on an English sergeant on one occasion, I found him 

 nursing one of these swallows, which had a broken wing ; he was 

 endeavouring to feed it on crumbs and meal. He had, it trans- 

 pired, thrown a stone at the bird as it sat chirping on the roof- 

 ridge : to his surprise and grief he hit it, and was now endea- 

 vouring to restore it to health by a vegetarian diet !! (Morogoro, 

 27.i. 17). 



ITiRU^s^DO EMiNi Reichw. 



Erain's Sv.^allow was only once met with at Morogoro (31. vii. 

 17) when evidently on migration, three birds in poor plumage 

 being seen. A pair of these birds, after starting the foundations 

 of twenty-one nests on the roof-rafters of my office verandah. 



