SWALLOWS loi 



stronghold of this species is in the basin of the 

 Suir, the Barrow, and the Nore, beyond which its 

 range becomes restricted. It has been met with 

 in Louth and Limerick (ZooL, 1896, p. 22), and I 

 have seen a specimen from Portarlington, Queen's 

 County, in Mus. Roy. Soc. Dublin. In England it 

 is a regular autumnal migrant to the eastern coasts. 



Formerly a regular resident in Ayrshire and 

 Dumfriesshire, and fairly common, but now only a 

 casual visitant. It has once been met with in 

 Shetland. 



Though usually a noisy and demonstrative bird, 

 it becomes one of the most silent and retiring during 

 the breeding season. It is well known to kill young 

 pheasants and partridges (Field, Aug. 7, 1875), 

 blackbirds, thrushes, and other small birds, and to 

 suck eggs ; hence the not unmerited retribution 

 exacted by gamekeepers. For different methods of 

 trapping Jays, see the Field, Aug. 5, 1876, and 

 Jan. 20 and 27, 1877. 



Fam. HIRUNDINID^. 



SWALLOW. Hirundo rustica, Linnaeus. PL 17, figs. 

 ^ 4, 4rt. Length, 7"5 in. ; wing, 4-75 in. ; tarsus, 0'5 in. 



Our three British Swallows have been placed by 

 systematists in three different genera, though they 

 all agree in having the bill short, depressed and 

 wide at the base, the nostrils basal, oval, and partly 

 closed by a membrane ; the wings with nine pri- 

 maries, long and pointed ; and the tail of twelve 



