lower parts, was obtained by Colonel Butler near Newcastle in June, and Canon Tristram lias a 

 similar bird from the Transvaal. We have been nnable to account for these variations in 

 plumage, and are uncertain whether they are simply the signs of the very old birds, or con- 

 stitute a melaniatic variety. The Natal birds have more white on the abdomen than those from 

 the Cape ; and one from the Zambesi has the white on the lower parts still more extended, 

 approaching C. minor of North-eastern Africa. 



]Mr. Thomas Ayres says : — " Specimens with the underparts dark, and entirely whole-coloured, 

 arc to be seen in company with the white-bellied birds, but are not nearly so common." Colonel 

 Butler believes that the dark-coloured individuals are immature birds, but we cannot see any 

 evidence of this in his specimens. 



Young. Differs from the adult in having sandy-rufous edges to the feathers of the upper parts, and in 

 having the under surface likewise washed with rufous. 



Hub. South Africa, from the Cape Colony to the Zambesi. 



As far as the evidence at our disposal goes, we liave little hesitation in considering the 

 present species to he strictly confined to South Africa, and we anticipate that all refer- 

 ences to tlie hirds' occurrence in North-eastern Africa will ultimately be found to have 

 been intended for Cot'de minor. 



Tlie foJlowing account of the species in the Cape Colony is taken from Sharpe's 

 edition of Layard's ' Birds of South Africa ' : — 



" The Cape Bank-Swallow is the earliest comer of all our migratory Swallows and 

 Swifts. It is rarely seen far from water, and breeds in the banks of rivers or artificial 

 dams, over which it continually hawks for flies. It lays three or four white eggs, of the 

 same size and shape as those of our European C, riparia, and the nest is often run to 

 the depth of two or three feet into the soil, wdien it is loose and friable. 



" Mr. Cairncross, of Swellendam, informs us that, if the winter is mild, it remains 

 about that part of the country during the whole year. Mr. Jackson has sent it from 

 Net's Poort. lie also states that it stays with him all the year round. We saw this 

 little species hawking about over a river in the Strand Veldt near Mr. J. Van der Byl's 

 residence at mid-winter (end of June 1868). AVe found it breeding at the Berg River in 

 the banks in the month of September. We also found it breeding at the ' Clay pits ' 

 near Graham's Town. Captain Shelley writes : — ' At Ceres, in Cape Colony, I found this 

 species very abundant, reminding me strongly of C. riparia, from which its dull-coloured 

 breast most readily distinguishes it.' The late Dr. Bradshaw informed us that he found 

 it to be a common species on the Orange Ptiver, where it is an early arrival and stays 

 late. Mr. T. E. Buckley obtained one specimen out of a flock at Pieteiinaritzburg. 

 Mr. Thomas Aj-rcs gives the following note on the species in Natal : — ' These Martins I 

 haA^e neA'er seen on the coast. I found many of them during the winter months about 

 the streams near Pietermaritzburg ; they occasionally alighted to rest on the overhanging 

 reeds, where, I have no doubt, they roost at night, as I have frequently found them thus 



