64 
BIRDS OF DUMFRIESSHIRE 
of Dumfries, under the belief that it is an egg of the House- 
Martin As Mr. Johnston has no positive evidence to con- 
firm this beUef , I have taken the hberty to differ from him, 
and to figure it as a curious variety of the egg of the 
Swallow."* " Figure 4 " referred to depicts a whitish egg 
strongly marked with dark chocolate-coloured spots, with 
underlying markings of grey.f 
White varieties of the bird are rarely seen; Mr. J. 
Macduff saw one at Kirkwood (Dalton) in 1887 and 
" Mabie Moss " records a white Swallow seen on the Nith m 
August, 1905.J I, ^ ^i. 
The winter-quarters of this species are throughout the 
Indian region as far east as Burmah and the Malay 
Peninsula, and all over Africa."§ 
The following table is sufficiently interesting for pubh- 
cation, but it should be noted that the observations emanate 
from inland locaUties, and that the observers relied only 
on their own eyes, and not on the reports of other persons. 
Year, j 
First seen. 
1874 
April 
23rd 
1875 
May 
6th 
1876 
April 
9th 
1878 
April 
28th 
1879 
May 
7th 
1880 
April 
20th 
1881 
May 
6th 
1882 
April 
23rd 
1883 
May 
l8t 
1884 
April 
29th 
1885 
April 
22nd 
1886 
April 
22nd 
1887 
April 
22nd 
1888 
April 
15th 
1889 
May 
6th 
District. 
Tynron 
Do. 
Do. 
Do. 
Do. 
Do. 
Do. 
Do. 
Do. 
Do. 
Do. 
Do. 
Do. 
Do. 
Do. 
Observer. 
Mr. Tom Brown. 
Do. 
Do. 
Do. 
Do. 
Do. 
Do. 
Do. 
Do. 
Do. 
Do. 
Do. 
Do. 
Do. 
Do. 
* Col. IIU Eggs BriL Birds, 1856, Vol. I., pp. 259, 260. 
t Op. cit.. Vol. I., Plate 65. 
% Kirkcudbright Advertiser, August 25th, 1905. 
§ Man. Brit. Birds, 1899, p. 168. 
