old birds begin to repair and tenant their former nests ; but the young, having no home 

 ready made, are compelled to wait until the May rains have moistened the earth in the 

 roads, to afford them mud for their structures. 



" But as soon as these seasonal changes have taken place, these birds may be seen 

 congregated on the roads, in groups of fifty together, huddled at the edges of the pools 

 formed by the daily rains, and in these places, where the power of the morning sun has 

 already evaporated the water, the mud has begun to acquire a stiffness of consistence 

 which probably is more suitable for moulding to their nests. As they alight to pick up 

 the pellets, their wings are nearly perpendicularly over the back, and they are incessantly 

 fluttering about, apparently hindering one another by their crowding. Many may be 

 seen engaged, where the pools are a little wider, or where the streams that cross the road 

 dilate into a broad surface, in sweeping backward and forward over the water, which at 

 every turn they just kiss with their beaks. I know not whether they are drinking, or 

 capturing minute surface-insects." 



Mr. March's account of the species in Jamaica is as follows : — " These Swallows are 

 found in all the caves in the limestone ranges, generally domiciled with large colonies 

 of bats ; formerly they occupied parts of all the public buildings and many dilapidated 

 houses about Spanish Town. The Progne has, however, driven them from the Secretary's 

 office, and another building now occupied by the Executive Committee ; and lately the 

 Palm Swifts have forced them to abandon the House of Assembly ; from other public 

 buildings they are also excluded by the vigilance of the keepers, though they often 

 attempt a lodgment. They are now congregated in large colonies at the railway stations. 

 Small parties or solitary pairs still, however, hover about their old haunts in the town, 

 during the breeding-season. One pair built in the Bishop's Registrar's office, and 

 although the office was closed from 3 o'clock on Saturday until 7 o'clock on Monday 

 morning, they built their nest and laid three eggs, which I took from them before they 

 left. They have often attempted to return every season to the House of Assembly, and 

 commence building, but their little neighbours, the Palm Swifts, allow them no rest 

 until they have driven them away. This year, 1803, a few pairs have succeeded in 

 making a lodgment. The nest is a half of an oblong mass of mud and grass well worked 

 together, with a flat top or platform, and a small cup filled with down. The flat side 

 of the section is stuck against the wall or beam ; the eggs are three, varying consider- 

 ably in form, size, and markings, the type, -f- by rg-ths long, oval, white, splashed with 

 dots of burnt ochre, thicker at the larger end. In some the marking is almost 

 obsolete." 



Dr. Gundlach furnishes a similar account of the species in Cuba to that of 

 Mr. Gosse above recorded. He states that these Swallows quit the northern part of the 

 island in autumn, but merely retire to the southern portions, and in spring he noticed 

 several in the eastern departments. Their nesting-season is from March to June, and 

 their song is agreeable and varied. The nest is variously placed in houses, sheds, and 

 caves. 



