HIRUNDINID/E. l6' 



THE SWALLOW. 



HiRUNDO RUSTiCA, Linnffius. 



This well-known visitor has been known to arrive in the southern 

 portions of our islands in some numbers by March 21st, while 

 from April loth forward it is generally distributed, although some- 

 what scarce and local in the extreme north, and decreasing in the 

 north-west. It visits the Outer Hebrides, and will probably be 

 found to breed there exceptionally, as is the case in the Orkneys 

 and Shetlands. . Emigration usually begins early in September, and 

 most birds have left us by the middle of October, but there are 

 many records up to the end of December, and a few in January 

 and February ; while one out of two laggard Swallows survived the 

 exceptionally mild winter of 1 895-1 896, at Masham, Yorkshire. 



The Swallow occurs in the Faeroes in ISLiy, and has been known to 

 stray to Iceland, South Greenland, Spitsbergen and Novaya Zemlya. 

 It nests in Scandinavia up to "jo" N. lat., but not quite as far as the 

 Arctic circle in Russia ; eastward and southward, its breeding-range 

 extends over Europe, Asia (north, as a rule, of the great mountain 

 ranges), and Northern Africa ; while during winter it is found through- 

 out the Indian region as far east as Burma and the Malay peninsula, 

 and all over Africa. My space will not permit a discussion of its con- 

 geners, and I must refer my readers to Dr. R. B. Sharpe's excellent 

 remarks (Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. vol. x., especially pp. 126-127).; 



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