92 Mr. B. Alexander —An Ornithological 
On August 18 I found a nest, lined with Guinea-fowls 
feathers and containing four eggs. It was cemented to the 
side of a large rock overhanging a pool near the river. To 
get at the nest, it was necessary to swim across to it, but the 
pool was deep and ugly-looking, and my native boy did not half 
like the idea, talking of crocodiles, so I did not press him. 
The next day I shot a Guinea-fowl out of a flock close to this 
same pool, and the bird fell into the water; in a second it 
w r as drawn under by a crocodile. 
The song of this species is pretty and Swallow-like, and 
often uttered from the tops of rocks in mid-stream. 
By the time October had come, the young were abroad. 
121. Hikundo puella (Temm. & Schl.). 
This Swallow is also a resident on the Zambesi. The nest 
is a curious structure. While at Zumbo in December we 
had an opportunity of examining one. It was cemented to 
the ceiling of an inhabited room of a house to which the birds 
gained ingress by means of the window, and they made a 
great fuss whenever this entrance was denied to them. The 
nest might be likened to a long-necked decanter sliced down 
its centre, the neck serving as a tunnel by which the birds 
reached the nest. The total length was about a foot, of 
which the tunnel took 3 inches, while the depth of the actual 
nest was 6 inches. 
122. Hirundo monteiri (Hartl.). 
Not found on the lower reaches of the river, and it was not 
until we had left Chicowa that we fell in with this handsome 
Swallow. On October 19 a party was observed flying round 
a tall baobab-tree. Both in appearance and the manner in 
which they circled in the air, executing graceful curves without 
a beat of the wings, they reminded us very much of the larger 
Bee-eaters. The entrances of holes in the baobab-trees are 
generally chosen for their nests. 
Near Zumbo, on December 2, we discovered a nest cemented 
to the bottom of a gaping fissure in the stout limb of a 
baobab-tree. It was rather a deep structure, and made of 
mud. 
