154 RAMBLES OF A NATURALIST. 
48. SAND MARTIN, Cotyle riparia (Linn.) ; 
C. littoralis (Hemp. and Ehr.) 
The first of the spring migrants. On the 21st of February 
they appeared in large flocks; after that they became very 
common, and were daily to be seen by hundreds skimming 
over the water. On the 6th of March they had commenced 
nesting operations at Siout, but Canon Tristram seems to 
have found them breeding in February (Ibis, 1859, p. 27). 
Long after the 6th of March I saw large flocks which were 
restlessly pressing northwards, having evidently no fixed 
abode in Egypt. 
The three specimens which I brought home are lighter 
than English ones, and the pectoral band is much less 
strongly marked, besides which there is nearly half an inch 
difference in the wing, which is longer than in the English 
bird. I suspect this is the bird referred to by Von Heuglin, 
but I cannot reconcile it with the description of Cotyle 
minor (Cab.) given by Mr. Sharpe (P. Z. S., 1870, p. 303). 
49. PALE CRAG SWALLOW, Cotyle obsoleta (Cab.) 
Is probably a partial migrant. During April I sometimes 
observed them skimming over the crops as if they had just 
come from the south, whereas, when we first saw them, it 
was only in the mountains. They nest in comparatively 
accessible places, beneath the overhanging ledges of a cliff, 
in the Tombs of the Kings, in the Temple at Phile, etc. 
%50. CRAG SWALLOW, Cotyle rupestris (Scop.). 
Mr. C. B. Cory showed mea Crag Swallow which he ob- 
tained at Girgeh on the 18th of January, which from its 
large size and dark coloration was I think Cot. rupestris. 
It had a much darker back than the specimens of C. obsoleta 
