and October, and otlier observers have found it in November aad April. lis localiiics 

 are between 3500 and 10,000 feet, and they are said to nest on roc-ks, lik.' 1[. /llifera. 

 Brehm says, iu his ' Reise nach dem abessiaischen Kiistcnhuid ' (iril),'si'!i. p. I'O'J), tliat 

 the present species is a house Swallow in both the districts where he snw it. I liavc 

 never seen it upon or near human dwellings, neither on the banks of tlie Red Sen nor 

 in the Eastern Soudan, and I describe the nests which I found in the Bogos cuuutrv 

 in hollows and clefts and under projecting' rocks, which they resemble in colour. Tlicv 

 were constructed of sand and earth, firmly cemented together prol)a!)ly by a kind of 

 saliva of the builder. They resemble those of our House-Swallow in sliape, l)ut tlieir 

 sides are much less massive, and externally more smooth; sometimes the nest is quite 

 round. I found no material at all for lining in the interior, and the nests liave just the 

 appearance of pottery. 



"This bird is generally observed in families, either sitting on dry tree-tops, or 

 circling about over cattle-pastures and rocks; we once met with a partv near the snow- 

 limit, sailing round liigli perpendicular clilfs. The voice of this species, like that o[ 

 S. semgalensis and H. melanocrissa, is a very peculiar melancholy piping ' ter,' wliich is 

 often repeated several tiuies in succession." 



In West Africa this Swallow appears to be confined to the Gold Const districts. It 

 was first noted near Cape Coast Castle by Dr. Gordon, whose specimen is now in tin- 

 British j\Iuseum. Governor Pel procured it on the Rio Boutry, and a specimen from 

 Ashantce was iu the Gould collection; but since the acquisition of the latter by the 

 British Museum, the bird in question has been transferred to the duphcates, as the 

 locality is thoroughly untrustworthy. This su2)posed Ashantee collection was bou^hi 

 by Gould from a dealer, and the skins were all of the ordinary Gold Coast 'make." ami 

 we have no doubt that they were an ordinai-y lot from the neighljourliood of Cape Coast 

 Castle. On the Gold Coast, Captain Shelley found the species everywhere al)uu(lant in 

 January and February: and Governor Ussher has given the following note : — 



"Tolerably common in and about Cape Coast at certain seasons of llie vfar. 1 did 

 not observe it until February or March, but cannot positively assert thai it i^ a regular 

 migrant. A pair frequented the grounds of Government House at Cape Coast (hiriui: 

 the spring of 1871, building in a large stone-arched tank at the far end of the lawn. 

 They appeared, in common with many African species, to be fond of sittim,-' on the i,'rass 

 or "'ravel in the earlv mornino'. I have generallv observed them in pairs, someliuies 

 singly, but never in flocks." 



Dr. Rochebrune has included this species iu his ' Fauna of Senegambia,' and says it 

 is decidedly common. No one else lias ever met with the spcfii's in this part of \\ est 

 Africa, and the statement requires eonHriuatioii. 



The descriptions arc from specimens in the Hi'itisli MusiMim, and tiie li^'ures in tli.' 

 Plate have been drawn from a very line bird in the same. 



2q 



