20 
The Birds of Pembrokeshire. 
ephemere. The tiny Sand Martins appeared to have no difficulty 
in bolting them, and we could hear the snap of their mandibles 
as one disappeared inside. One day a Swift in headlong pursuit 
collided against our head and fluttered stunned to the ground, 
but soon recovered and rose again on wing. The greater 
number of our Swallows left us in North Pembrokeshire about 
the middle of September ; some had gone before in August, 
and very few remained in the early days of October. 
MARTIN, Chelidon urbica—A common summer visitor. As Mr. 
Dix also observed in his district, the Martins were not so 
numerous with us as the Swallows, but we generally had a few 
pairs nesting about the house. They arrived about a fortnight 
after the Swallows, and departed again in detachments in Sep- 
tember and October. 
SAND MARTIN, Cottle riparia.A common summer visitor. The 
Sand Martins were generally first seen some day in the last week 
of March, flying about Welshhook Bridge, below our house. They 
were always abundant, perhaps more so even than the Swallows, 
nesting in banks and in the sides of gravel pits and old quar- 
ries. Owing to the want of suitable nesting places Mr. Dix 
failed to observe this species in his district, writing: “I have 
only once seen this bird, where four or five were skimming over 
the river by Cardigan Bridge.” 
TREE CREEPER, Certhia familiaris—A common resident. ‘To 
be seen in our grounds at Stone Hall every day in the year. 
Although numerous, we but seldom detected the nest, which 
was usually placed behind the ivy creeping over some old tree, 
where the moss of which it was constructed exactly imitated the 
colour of its surroundings and aided in its concealment. 
GOLDFINCH, Cardwelis elegans. — A common resident. Still 
abundant, in spite of the persecution sustained from bird- 
catchers, who take great numbers in the autumn when the birds 
