10 



This was at the end of April, and I got both eggs and young birds. The nests were 

 composed of pellets of clay, and Avere mostly rather deep saucers plastered in angles of 

 the cliff under projecting ledges. They were warmly lined both with grass and 

 feathers." 



The late General Prjevalski gives the following notes of his observations on the 

 E,ock- S wallow : — "Is common in the mountains of S.E. Mongolia and Kan-su. In the 

 latter place they do not ascend as high as the Alpine region. They spend whole days 

 in flying about the rocks where they breed. Their nests are usually stuck to protruding 

 stones, or roofs of small caverns in the rocks. The first migrants arrived at Muni-ul on 

 the 19th of April, and in Kan-su on the 26th of the same month." Abbe David states 

 that he met with the species in all parts of Western China and Mongolia visited by him, 

 and the late Consul Swinlioe records it as common in the mountains near Pekin in 

 Northern China. 



The fact that the Ptock-Martin lays spotted eggs and builds a nest like a Common 

 Swallow is very interesting, and apparently proves that the species is not a true member 

 of the genus Cotile. In Mr. Tait's Portuguese notes he says : — " The flight of this 

 species is extremely graceful — so smooth, silent, and apparently effortless — and I have 

 often watched it with pleasure. Occasionally a bird would seem to turn a somersault, 

 like a Tumbler Pigeon, but with a wider radius and without disturbing its flight. I 

 could never, however, feel quite sure that it was not an optical delusion on my part." 

 As will be seen by the notes given above, the situations of the nest are very various, 

 as it is found nesting under the eaves of houses, as at Andorra in the Pyrenees, against 

 cliffs, and sometimes even in caves. On Mt. Parnassus, Dr. Kriiper found a nest in a 

 small cave where a Chough had a nest also and was feeding her young. 



The following interesting account of the species was contributed by Mr. Henry 

 Seebohm to Mr. Dresser's ' Birds of Europe ' : — 



"C rupestris ought rather to be called the Cave-Swallow, than the Crag-Swallow or 

 Rock-Martin, if its name refers to its choice of a breeding-station. So far as I know 

 C. nqjeslris always chooses to nest in caves, with which Greece and Asia Minor abound. 

 In both these countries it is a resident bird, frequenting, Dr. Kriiper tells me, the plains 

 and the sea-side in winter. In summer it goes into the mountains to breed ; but Von 

 der Miihle and Lindermayer are certainly wrong in saying that it is only seen in the 

 high mountains at this season of the year. We never once met Avith this bird in the 

 pine-regions of the Parnassus. Below the pines come some two thousand feet of rock 

 and grass before you get into the olive and vine valleys. In this region we only found 

 it very low down, in the most sheltered situations, in the mountain-gorges a short stroll 

 above the level of the vines. These mountain-gorges, like all other limestone districts, 

 abound in caves, which are the favourite breeding-places of this Swallow. On the 10th 

 of May, 1873, I had an excellent opportunity of watching a score or more of these birds 

 hawking for flies on a sunny spot in a deej) mountain-gorge in the Parnassus. The sun 

 was shining brilliantly after a heavy storm of wind and rain. The birds were very tame, 



