THE SWALLOW. I 79 



ever there is water or marsh ; but none of those 

 which he observed were in mature plumage, 

 and it is therefore presumed that only the 

 younger and weaker birds stay behind. The 

 Arabs informed him that for one Swallow they 

 have in winter they have twenty in summer, and 

 that they usually retire about the end of Nov- 

 ember, returning in February. In November, 

 also, they have been observed to be common at 

 Alexandria and Cairo (E. C. Taylor, " Ibis," 

 1859, p. 47); and on the 5th of November, 

 when leaving Aden, Mr. Swinhoe remarked that 

 a few Swallows followed the ship, apparently 

 bound for the Indian coast. According to the 

 observations of Mr. E. C. Taylor (" Ibis," 1867, 

 p. 57), this species reappears in Egypt about 

 March 25, and is common at Cairo and Damietta 

 in April. Riippell, in his " Systematische 

 Uebersicht der Vogel Nordost-Afrika's," includes 

 the Swallow (p. 22) as being found in Egypt, 

 Nubia, and Abyssinia ; and as regards the last- 

 named country, Mr. Blanford has remarked^ 



1 " Geology and Zoology of Abyssinia," p. 347. 



