La Reunion : — " The A'icomte de Querboent has frequently observed tbese Swallows 

 flying about in the neighbourhood of a cutting wliieh he had made in one of the moun- 

 tains, and this induced him to believe that the birds roosted for the night in holes in 

 the ground or in clefts of the rocks, like our Sand-Martins and Swifts. They nest in all 

 probability in the same holes, and this is the more likely, as their nests are not known 

 elsewhere in the island. The onlv information which this o-entleman could s-ain 

 respecting the nidification of the species in La Reunion was derived from an old Creole, 

 who informed him that the breeding-season was in September and October, that he had 

 taken many nests in caves and holes in the rocks, that the nests were composed of 

 straw and feathers, and that all the eggs which he had seen were greyish white, minutely 

 dotted with brown." 



Sir Edward Xewton in his " Ornithological Notes from Mauritius," published in 

 ' The Ibis ' for 1861, wa-ote as follows : — 



"This very local species is tolerably common. They seem fond of feeding 

 over the sand at low water and sitting on it, after the manner of Sand Martins in 

 England, uttering at the same time a most peculiar whistle for a Martin. When flying 

 they have a notewliich very nuicli resembles that of a Bee-eater, as far as my recollection 

 goes of that bird's cry when passing through Egypt iu 1859. These birds are also given 

 to perching on trees ; and I noticed three that were in the habit of taking up their 

 position on the same bough every day at about the same hour, probably awaiting the 

 falling of the tide. They are, I think, early breeders. In a small cavern on the western 

 face of the east side of the Bale du Cap, I saw several, and, from their manner, I am 

 certain that they either had nests or were about to build. I observed one which had 

 its back of a dark ash-brown ; I had no gun with me at the time, and the individual 

 never showed itself again." 



In his address recently delivered, as President of the Norfolk and Norwich Natural 

 History Society, Sir Edward speaks of this Swallow : — " Tliat other birds of Mauritius are 

 dwindling in numbers there is, I think, no doubt. Since my residence in the island, a law 

 has been passed which affords them, I trust, some protection, and may possibly preserve 

 them to future generations. Yet there is one which very nearly came to an end in my 

 time, and though not quite extinct in the island, I may just mention the circumstance 

 relating to it. This is a Swallow or Martin belonging to the genus Phediiia, and is one 

 of the few land-birds that is found in Mauritius and Reunion. In Mauritius it seems, 

 so far as my experience goes, to have been always very local, and its numbers were so 

 much reduced by a cyclone which ravaged the island betweeii the 12th and 17th Eebruary, 

 18C1, that I never afterwards saw but three or four from that time till my departure 

 in 1878." 



The following note is taken from Mr. Pollen's account of the species in the ' Eaune 

 de Madagascar ' : — 



" AVitli regard to tlie species in Reunion, M. Coquerel says: — ^'This Swallow, 

 which is found in ]\lauritius and Madagascar, is common in Ptcunion. A very remark- 



