6 



Professor Burmeister gives the following note : 



" Of all the Swallows of Brazil this has heen the commonest in the countries visited 

 by me ; in each town, in each village, they exist in crowds. They nest under the eaves, 

 where they repose on the cornices, like the Sparrows in Europe ; it builds a simple nest 

 of dry grass and hair ; it lays two white eggs. The species appears to be especially 

 plentiful in the inhabited districts ; it is also present throughout the whole of South 

 America ; Azara describes it from Paraguay ; von Tschudi from Peru ; I myself found 

 it in Colombia as well as in Bio de Janeiro, Novo Pribourgo, Congonhas, and Lagoa 

 Santa." 



A young specimen obtained by Mr. Joyner at Pelotas in Bio Grande do Sul is in 

 the Salvin-Godman collection. 



On the occurrence of the species near Buenos Ayres, excellent notes are given below 

 from the pen of Mr. W. H. Hudson. Mr. Durnford has also written on the subject; he 

 observes : — 



" Arrives at the end of September, and generally leaves in March ; but this year I 

 observed two, a little north of Buenos Ayres, on the 30th April. This, the smallest 

 species of Hirundinidae, always reminds me of the Sand-Martin at home. In its habit 

 of flying close to the ground and frequenting the neighbourhood of pools and streams, 

 from which it never wanders far, it is essentially like that bird. It nests in holes in the 

 banks of streams, sandpits, and similar localities. 



" On October 3rd I saw two pairs frequenting some holes in a sand-pit near Plores ; 

 as they often returned to the pit, and clung to the face of its perpendicular sides, I think 

 they had nests near. I thrust the whole length of my walking-stick into two or three 

 of the holes, without touching the end of any of them. I am told that this Swallow 

 remains the whole year near Buenos Ayres ; and a Mend assures me that he once shot 

 one when Duck-shooting in the winter." (See, however, Mr. Hudson's notes given 

 below.) 



Mr. E. W. White met with it at Catamarca in August. Professor Burmeister, 

 during his journey through the La Plata region, found this the commonest Swallow, but 

 in Mcndoza he met with the white-vented race which he named Atticora hemipyga. 

 This is also the form from Chili, as is shown by the specimens in the British Museum, 

 which possesses nine examples from that country. Mr. White's specimen from Cosquin 

 in the province of Cordova also belongs to the white-vented form. 



Mr. Darwin found the species nesting along with the Purple Martin in holes in 

 banks near Bahia Blanca in Northern Patagonia. His specimen in the British Museum 

 agrees with the Chilian specimens above recorded. 



Mr. H. Durnford writes : — 



" Common throughout our journey in Central Patagonia about the rivers and lakes. 

 A few are seen at Chupat on warm days in the winter ; but the great majority leave at 

 the approach of cold weather." It was pretty common in the Chupat valley, nesting in 

 the banks of some of the upper reaches of the river. 



