2 



Mr. Gould lias given the following account of the species in his ' Handbook,' and 

 we cannot find that any additional information respecting it has been published since 

 that date : — 



'•' The White-breasted Swallow is a very wandering species, never very numerous, 

 and is generally seen in small flocks of from ten to twenty in number, sometimes in 

 company with the other Swallows. It usually flies very high, a circumstance which 

 renders it very difficult to procure specimens. In Western Australia this bird chooses 

 for its nest the deserted hole of either the Dalgyte (Peragalea lagotis) or the Boodee (a 

 species of Bettovyla), but more generally drills holes in the sides of banks, like the Sand- 

 Martin of Europe. The holes are perfectly round, about two inches in diameter, run 

 horizontally for three feet from the entrance, and then expand into a chamber or 

 receptacle for the nest, which is constructed of the broad portions of dried grasses and 

 the dry dead leaves of trees. Mr. Johnson Drummond informed Gilbert that he had 

 frequently found seven, eight, or nine eggs in a single nest, from which he inferred that 

 more than one female lays in the same nest : the eggs are white, somewhat lengthened, 

 and pointed in form. It would seem that the holes are not constructed exclusively for 

 the purpose of nidincation, for upori Gilbert's inserting a long grass-stalk into one of 

 them, five birds made their way out, all of which he succeeded in catching ; upon his 

 digging to the extremity, in the hojie of procuring their eggs, no nest was found, and 

 hence he concludes that their holes are also used as places of resort for the night. 



" Since this information was transmitted, I have received notices of this bird from 

 many other sources, which enable me to state with tolerable certainty that it is spread 

 during summer at least over the whole of the southern portion of the interior, from 

 Queensland to Swan River. Strange to say, however, I have never seen examples of 

 this species in any collection formed out of Australia ; yet the occurrence of a bird 

 whose wing-powers are so great might naturally be expected in New Guinea or some of 

 the adjacent islands." 



The figure of the bird is drawn from a specimen in the Tweeddale collection, and 

 the descriptions are taken from examples in the British Museum. 



