75 [Vol. xliii. 



Mr. David Bannerman exhibited a new race of the 

 Chestnut-headed Stripe-breasted Swallow from the Highlands 

 of Northern Nigeria, which he proposed to name : 



Hirnndo puella maxima, subsp. nov. 



Adult male. Most nearly allied to H. p. unitatis Scl. & 

 Praed, but the pure white underparts are more heavily 

 streaked with black, the chestnut head is of a much deeper tone 

 and extends further on to the mantle; the white patches on the 

 tail-feathers are rather less conspicuous. The size is larger 

 throughout, wing 116 mm., against an average measure- 

 ment of 107 mm. in South African specimens (the type 

 a. p. unitatis measures 107 mm.) ; the bill is also larger. 



Type in the British Museum, ^, Kumbo, 5500 ft., N. 

 Nigerian Highlands, close to Cameroon boundary, 28 Sept., 

 1921. G-. L. Bates coll. 



Bill (exposed) 8*5 mm., breadth at base 7 mm., wing 

 116 mm., tail from base to end of 2nd outer feather 31 mm., 

 tarsus 14 mm. 



Observation. The Gold Coast form, H. puella puella, differs 

 from the above race in having the striping of the under 

 surface very much finer, the ground-colour of the underparts 

 not so white, and the size considerably smaller (wing under 

 102 mm.); the N.E. African race H. p. abyssinica is also a 

 small bird in comparison, the streaks of the underparts are 

 not so coarse as in H. p. unitatis, and the chestnut of the 

 head is light in colour. 



Mr. N. B. KiNNEAR exhibited a dummy Partridge's egg, 

 spotted and streaked all over as though it had passed through 

 the oviduct. He stated that, while a ditch near Hertford was 

 being cleaned this spring, a French Partridge's nest was 

 exposed, and the eggs were taken and set under a hen, nine 

 dummies being substituted in their place. When the eggs 

 were about to hatch they were put back in the nest, and the 

 dummies were all found to be marked as the one exhibited. 

 A microscopical examination of the red markings had been 

 made by Dr. G. C. Low, who pronounced them to be 



