H. LYNES : MIGRATION OF SWALLOWS. 287 



live minutes not one European Swallow could be seen. 

 They had evidently continued their j)assao-e directly the 

 threatening- storm cleared. 



The course of the Swallows was the trend of the coa st- 

 line to the southward, and I think the fact that they 

 were just following- down the coast-line (not jjreparin^ to 

 cross water), and the time of day, puts out of court the 

 possible sug-g-estion that this gathering was the preparation 

 — for the migratory flight by a large number of Swallows 

 in company. 



It has always been my experience that there is nothing 

 so dangerous to small birds on passage as to be caught in 

 the rain. In the Mediterranean it is in thunder-shower 

 weather in the spring and autumn that large numbers of 

 exhausted birds appear on board ship, many with plumage 

 so clogged with rain that they can only just reach the 

 ship, indicating- only too plainly the fate of their less 

 fortunate companions which have not fallen in with a 

 resting- place. 



My specimen proves to be an adult male in full 

 plumage, with full chestnut forehead, cheeks and throat, 

 dark pectoral band, and no sign of moult. It was very 

 fat, and its stomach was full of flies, which it had no 

 doubt caught just before I shot it. 



