178 
RUFOUS SWAIJ.OW. 
whence came our Domestic Swallows? It is now 
known they pass the winter in Africa; hut this (picstion 
may be still asked with good reason as to H. rufula. 
From whence does it depart, and Avhat is its true 
country? No ornithologist has yet (1855) been able 
to answer this question. We only know the bird 
from its accidental appearance on the shores of the 
Mediterranean. Those who took it for H. Daurica, 
{H. alpestris, Pall.,) thought it came from Siberia, and 
this presumption might be justified by the simultaneous 
appearance in the same parts of the Mediterranean of 
many Siberian birds, such as Emberiza rustica, E. 
aureola, E. pityornus, E. pusilla, Accentor Calliope, 
etc.; but if Rufula is very nearly allied to Daurica, 
there is still a difference between them; nor has it 
yet been found in Pussia, or upon the coasts of the 
Black Sea. Prince Bonaparte seemed to have settled 
the question, by claiming its identity with H. melano- 
crissa of Abyssinia, but unfortunately we have seen 
that they are distinct.” 
“H. rufula being as we may say intermediate between 
H. Daurica and H. melanocrissa, I am led to believe, 
in the absence of further proof, that its home must be 
one of the mountainous countries situated between 
Egypt and India, probably the mountains in the south 
of Armenia or Persia. I exclude for the present the 
hyjsothesis of Barbary, as it has not yet been met with 
in Algeria or Spain.” 
^‘As far as we know of H. rufula, and until we can 
in a more positive manner determine the differences 
which age may introduce between this species and its 
congeners, it is distinguished from H. Daurica by the 
exceedingly fine brown streaks on the inferior parts 
of the body, by the larger russet collar, and by the 
