I02 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS 



feathers much forked. What, then, are the differ- 

 ences which are now commonly regarded as generic ? 

 They are to be found chiefly in the structure of the 

 feet. In the Swallow these are slender and bare ; 

 in the Martin, slender and closely feathered above ; 

 while the Sand Martin has a little tuft of feathers on 

 the tarsus just above the hallux. A difference also 

 will be noted in the form of the tail. In the Swal- 

 low the outermost tail-feather is remarkably elon- 

 gated and attenuated ; in the Martin, this is not 

 so, and the tail is not so conspicuously forked ; in 

 the Sand Martin it is still less forked and relatively 

 shorter. On the wing the Swallow may be known 

 by its uniformly coloured steel-blue back and long 

 outer tail-feathers ; the Martin, by its white rump 

 and shorter forked tail ; the Sand Martin, by its small 

 size and dull brown plumage. 



A summer migrant, arriving early in April and 

 departing in October and November. For dates of 

 latest stay in autumn and winter months, see sum- 

 mary of observations, Zool., 1881, p. 62, and an 

 article by the present writer, " Belated Swallows," 

 Field, Jan. 30, 1892. For appearance in December, 

 Zool, 1881, p. 62, and 1887, p. 269 ; and from Dec. 

 25 to Jan. 3 in Cornwall, Couch, " Illustrations of 

 Instinct," p. 132. In The Field, Nov. 20, 1875, the 

 late Dr. C. R. Bree, of Colchester, wrote : "I have 

 a nest and eggs of the Chimney Swallow, taken 

 while the old bird was sitting on them in the middle 

 of December at Walton on the Naze ; " and in The 

 Field Dec. 14, 1895, Mr. J. C. Macaulay reported 



