194 STUDIES IN BIRD-MIGRATION 



from the north-west of England. From the south of 

 England many departures occur annually till the middle 

 of the month, while stragglers are to be seen later, 

 especially in the south-west. December Swallows are 

 rarce. aves, and were only observed in one year of the 

 British Association inquiry. The autumn of 1880 was 

 remarkable for the protracted stay of the Hirundinidse, 

 and a few belated Swallows were recorded on the south 

 coast of England in the last week of November, while in 

 December one was observed at Bournemouth on the 7th, 

 and two at Eastbourne, and one at Woolmer on the 

 nth, the weather until that time having been mild.^ 

 Others were observed in the Decembers of 1891, 1894 

 (a number), and 1896. 



Autumn Passage along the British Coast from 

 Northern Europe. — The return of the Swallows which 

 have summered in Scandinavia (accompanied by their 

 young), and their passage along our coasts usually takes 

 place from the middle of September^ onwards, the 9th 

 (in 1884) being the earliest day on which their move- 

 ment is recorded. The passage is well maintained 

 during the rest of the month, and is prolonged on 

 the part of small numbers to the first or even second 

 week of October. Some of these travellers from the 

 north are, perhaps, induced by our milder climate to tarry, 

 and it is possibly such laggards that occur on or near our 

 east coast in November, and account for the late- 



1 Mr Joseph Agnew, light-keeper, states that a Swallow was caught on 

 the Monach Isles (with the exception of St Kilda, the outermost of the 

 Hebrides) in January 1887, but he unfortunately furnished no further 

 particulars of the occurrence. 



2 Professor Collet states that Swallows begin to leave southern Norway 

 the first week of September, and that he has known individuals to remain 

 there so late as the middle of October. 



