984 BIRDS OF SOMERSETSHIRE. 
The beak of the Sand Martin is dark brown, 
nearly black; the irides are hazel; the head, neck, 
back and all the upper parts are uniform dark hair- 
brown; the quills are a darker brown, almost black ; 
the tail is the same; the chin and throat are white; 
there is a broadish dark brown band on the breast, 
and the flanks also are brown; all the rest of the 
under parts are white; the legs, toes and claws are 
dark brown; there are a few lightish feathers just 
above the hind toe. In the young birds of the year 
the feathers on the head, neck, back, scapulars, 
wing-coverts, tertial-quills, rump and tail-coverts, are 
margined with light rusty brown; the margins on 
the head and neck appear to wear away first; there 
is a light streak on the outer web of each of the tail- 
feathers, except the two centre ones. Varieties, 
mostly white or cream-colour, occasionally make 
their appearance. 
The egg is plain white, rather smaller than that 
ofthe Swallow. 
Swirt, Cypselus apus. This peculiar-looking bird 
is the last to arrive of all the Hirundinide and the 
earliest to depart, making so short a stay with us 
that it would hardly appear worth its while to make 
so long ajourney: my own notes of its arrival vary 
from the 28th of April to the 2nd of May, and the 
notes of its departure nearly agree; ‘‘ Seen no Swifts 
since the 18th of August.” One year I was crossing 
from Weymouth to Guernsey in the steamer, on the 
