Hab. Venezuela and British Guiana (Roraima), Southern Brazil and the Central Argentine Republic 

 to Mendoza. 



This pretty little Swallow has all the outward appearance of a Sand-Martin (Cotile), hut 

 its structure proves that it is a member of the genus Atticora, though it differs consider- 

 ably in its style of plumage from all the other species of the genus. 



Very little is known respecting its distribution and habits. Its occurrence in 

 Venezuela rests on a specimen said by Professor Bernhardt to exist in the museum at 

 Copenhagen ; but none of the well-known collectors in that country, Goering, Spence, &c, 

 appear to have met with it, and the locality needs some confirmation. Mr. Henry 

 Whitely obtained several specimens on Roraima in January, and it is possible that the 

 species winters in this quarter, as the birds collected by him are all in more perfect 

 plumage than others from more southern localities, and have distinct whitish edgings to 

 the greater coverts and secondaries. 



Throughout the whole of the Amazon valley and the greater part of Brazil we have 

 absolutely no record of the species, and we do not know even whether it passes over 

 these countries on migration. That the species is migratory to a certain extent we 

 gather from a remark of the late Mr. E. W. White, who speaks of it as increasing in 

 numbers near Cosquin in the province of Cordova in August. A specimen shot by him 

 on the 29th of September shows traces of having bred in the neighbourhood, as the 

 rufous edges to the feathers of the crown are abraded, so that the bird appears to have a 

 cap of sooty brown. The same may be said of a specimen collected by Mr. Leybold on 

 the Pampas of the Argentine Republic, and Mr. Weisshaupt in Mendoza in February. 

 Not only is the rufous colour entirely gone from the crown, but the throat and breast 

 are also much less rufous than in others from more northern localities. 



A summary of the dates when the species has been observed in Southern Brazil and 

 the adjoining countries gives the following result : — 



Mendoza ( Weisshaupt), February. Cosquin in Cordova ( White), July to September. 

 Taquara (Ihering), November. Campos of San Paulo and Minas Geraes : Byen Franca 

 and Paracutu (Lund), September ; Lagoa Santa (Lund), March. Casa Pintada (Natterer), 

 January ; Ytarare (Natterer), February ; Ypanema (Natterer), July. 



It would appear, therefore, that the species occurs in the south in every month 

 from July to March, and the only months in which it is absent are April, May, and 

 June. Swallows are, however, so uncertain in their times of migration that it is quite 

 possible that many of the present species reach their winter home in Southern Guiana by 

 January, while some may not migrate at all. If, however, later investigations prove 

 that no migration takes place northward across the Amazon valley, it may turn out that 

 the Boraima bird is specifically distinct. 



So far as we can discover, nothing has been published regarding the hahits of this 

 species. 



The description has been taken from a specimen in the British Museum, and the 

 figure has been drawn from one in the same collection, formerly in that of Messrs. Salvin 

 and Gudman. 



