CYPSELID^. 



263 



THE ALPINE SWIFT. 



Cypselus melba (Linnccus). 



This large Swift was first noticed as one of our occasional visitors 

 about midsummer 1829, when one was shot off the coast of 

 Ireland ; and since that time three or four more have been 

 obtained, at long intervals, in that island. Upwards of a score of 

 instances are on record from various parts of England : mostly from 

 the southern half, though one of them occurred as far north 

 as Alnmouth in Northumberland. No captures have as yet been 

 made in Scotland. With the exception of a bird taken near Dublin 

 in March 1833, the occurrences authenticated have been between 

 June and October ; and for several reasons, coupled with the fact 

 that I once captured an example on board ship in the Bay of Biscay 

 early in August, I incline to the belief that the birds which come to 

 us are from the Pyrenees or the Cantabrian range. 



The Alpine Swift is a very rare visitor to Heligoland, Germany, 

 and the north of France, although it breeds no further off than the 

 cliffs at Nolay on the western frontier of Burgundy. It also nests 

 sparsely in the Vosges and the Jura; while in some parts of Savoy, and 

 more plentifully in Switzerland, it annually resorts to high crags and 

 towers, arriving at the end of April and leaving in September or 

 October. All the high mountains of Central and Southern Europe 

 are frequented by it during the summer ; as well as the ranges 

 of North Africa, Asia Minor, Palestine, Persia, Turkestan, and India 

 as far east as Assam. In the cold season, and during a considerable 



