and under ■ning-coverts dull smoky bro\vu Tviili faint rufous margins, more distinct on the small 

 coverts near the edge of the -sving ; quills dusky brown below, more ashy along the inner web : 

 "■bill black ; legs and feet fleshy, claws dusky; iris dark brown" {Scul/i/). Total length 5 inches, 

 culmen 0'35, wing 4'9, tail 2, tarsus 0'4. 



Adult female. Similar to the male in plumage. Total length 5-3 inches, culmen 0'35, wing 4-9, tail 2-1, 

 tarsus 0'4. 



Young. Much more rufescent than the adults, especially on the under surface of the body, the throat 

 showing no traces of the brown spots which are characteristic of the old birds; the entire upper 

 surface with rufous margins to the feathers, less distinct on the quills. 



There seems to be very little diff'ercnce between the plumages of adult birds in winter and summer, but 

 most of the specimens procured in the winter season are somewhat more rufous tlian those 

 obtained in summer. This may be due, perhaps, to the fact that many of them are young birds 

 of the previous year, and a greater amount of rufous colour on the underparts was to be expected. 

 During the breeding-season, when the plumage becomes bleached, the throat and chest are per- 

 ceptibly whiter, the abdomen paler brown, with only a slight wash of rufous, and the margins of 

 the under tail-coverts are whitish. 



Hab. Found in suitable localities from Portugal in the west throughout the whole of the Mediterranean 

 Region and Persia to the Himalayas and the Nilghiri Hills in India, and eastwards to the moun- 

 tains of IMongolia and Northern China. In most places it seems to be a resident, but in some 

 countries it is more or less migratory. 



An excellent record of the localities frequented by the Rock-Swallow in the south of 

 France and Switzerland is given by M. Leon Olphe-GalJiard in his work on the 

 Ornithology of ATestern Europe. He has himself found the bird in the Easses-Alpes 

 and Valais, and gives besides instances of its occurrence in various places of Southern 

 France. Messrs. Jaubert and Barthelemy-Lapommeraye state that in the latter locality 

 the Crag-Martin is an inhabitant of the more alpine rocky localities, only visiting the 

 lower valleys during migration. In the month of February, if the weather is line, the 

 Crag-Martins appear in the valleys of the Yar and Basses-Alpes : as they pass on, their 

 place is taken by other immigrants, and it is the last arrivals which become the summei- 

 residents. They frequent the rocky heights near Moustiers, and are foujid more rarely 

 on the banks of the Durance and A"erdou, and sometimes on the rocks of (iivoiilx. 'J'lie_\ 

 quit the latter neighbourhood in the month of July, doubtless, as the authors reinai'k, lo 

 rear a second brood at a higher elevation. The birds are stated to he much more ph-ii- 

 lil'iil ill spriuL;- than in aulumn. Bailly states that the Crag-Martin hrccds throughout 

 Savoy in the mcjuntaiiis, espeeially in the neighbourhood of lakes and )ivers. Tl is 

 common in the spring, espeeially near Ciiambcry and in the rocks on the banks of the 

 Khone, as well as those at Saint-fieiiix, Yenne, on the shores of Lake Bourget. It is 

 common at the castle of IJordeaux as I'ar as llautceonihc, and l)r(' nls in the monasterv 

 buildings of the laltcr place. In the Itivicra .M r. Tnihei-ne Moggridge has stated thai 

 he lound it near Mentonc in \\intL'r. 



;) u -1 



