CECROPIS RUFULA.,
Western Mosque-Swallow,

Firundo rufula, Temm. Man. d’Orn., 2nd edit. tom. iii. p. 298.—Schlegel, Rev. Crit. des Ois. d’Eur., pp. xviii et
41.—Simps. in Ibis, 1860, p. 386.—Tristr. in Ibis, 1867, p. 362.—Jaub. et Barth. de la Lapomm. Rich.
Orn. du Midi de la France, p. 308.—Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., tom. i. p. 338, Hirundo, sp. 12.

Mucu diversity of opinion exists among ornithologists as to whether the European, the Indian, the Siberian,
and Japanese birds to which the generic title of Cecropis has been applied are merely local races of one,
or are sO many distinct species. If the former be the correct view of the case, then several other birds of
this form inhabiting Africa from north ta south, which have hitherto been regarded as species, must also be
considered to be races only. But all these birds, both Asiatic and African, exhibit differences which, although
they may appear trivial to a cursory observer, are nevertheless constant ; and I believe that we shall be correct
in treating them as distinct. In their structure, in the arrangement of their colours and markings, in their
mode of nidification, and in their actions in the air, these birds differ so considerably from the members
of the genus Mirundo, of which the Common Swallow is the type, that in my opinion the late Prince Charles
Bonaparte was quite right in separating them into a distinct genus ; and I therefore unhesitatingly adopt the
term Cecropis he applied to them.

The Cecropis rufula is the European representative of the eastern C. Daurica, from which it differs in
the much lighter colouring of the breast and rump, and in the almost total absence of striae which are so
conspicuous in the Siberian and Chinese birds. The particulars in which it varies from the Indian and
Ceylonese birds will be found in my accounts of those species. In Europe, and all similar latitudes as far
east as the C. rufula has been discovered, it is a migrant, visiting those countries only in summer. In
Greece, the Holy Land, and Asia Minor it appears to be more plentiful than elsewhere ; in Italy, France, and
Germany it must be regarded as an accidental visitor ; and those individuals which are seen still further
northward, as in Heligoland and the one which has been supposed to have occurred in Kngland, must be
considered mere wanderers, going they know not whither. Eastward, it is believed to extend to the confines
of Afghanistan ; but no one has yet observed it in India. As is the case with all the typical Hirundines, little
difference occurs in the colouring of the sexes of the present species ; neither are they subject to any great
change of plumage. As might be expected, its habits and mode of nidification closely resemble those of the
Daurian Swallow, described by Pallas ; and on this part of its economy I cannot do better than transcribe the
interesting accounts published by Mr. Simpson in ‘The Ibis’ for 1860, and by the Rev. H. B. Tristram in
the same work for 1867. Speaking of the bird as seen by him in Western Greece, the former gentleman
says :—* It is very singular in its nidification, always fixing its nest under a cave or projecting slab of rock.
In the little Klissoura, and throughout the precipices of Aracynthus, there are plenty of these caves—in
former times a convenient refuge for the Klephts, as they now are for the shepherds tending their flocks
during the winter months. This eccentric Swallow, not satisfied with having a good dry cave all to
himself, must needs construct a long passage to his nest, thus giving it the shape of a retort with the upper
part cut away and the remaining portion glued underneath a flat surface. The entrance js harrow,
but the passage gradually widens till it finally opens into a sort of chamber very warmly lined with feathers ;
here the little fellow and his mate are sure to be most snugly tucked in just after sundown, when they
can’t see to catch any more insects. Escape, therefore, is impossible when a ruthless ornithologist wishes
to capture the pair for the sake of identifying their eges. No more than one pair are ever seen to occupy
a cave, though the remains of previous nests could occasionally be traced on the roofs. The same pair
appear to return year after year; and their nest, unless injured by shepherd boys during the winter, will
merely require a little touching up to render it again inhabitable. The fact of the same birds returning
was proved by those caves being untenanted where the pair had been captured during the preceding year.
Several nests with eggs were found towards the end of May and beginning of June 1859. Four seems
about the complement; they are quite white, and much resemble those of HZ. urbica, which could well be
passed off for them in collections.”

In his notes ‘On the Ornithology of Palestine,” Mr. Tristram, when speaking of the Swallows observed
by him, remarks : ‘“ Very distinct is that charming bird, H. rufula, Temm., belonging to a different group
containing ten Old-World species, which have been separated by Bonaparte into a subgenus Cecropis.
This bird does not return to Palestine till the end of March. We obtained our first specimens on the
28th. It then scatters itself over the whole country, and in the warmer and more marshy regions is the

predominant species. It is a beautiful bird on the wing, showing its chestnut collar and rump to great