90 THE BIRDS OF BERKS AND BUCKS. 



Lord Clifton, writing from Eton to the Zoolo- 

 gist for 1867, states that one day in August of that 

 year a Swallow was seen to be caught by the head 

 in the interstices of one of the gilded weathercocks 

 which surmount the top of a house at Eton College. 

 Sympathising crowds of Swallows flocked to see it, 

 and in a short time two more were captured in the 

 same manner. 



An unusually late stay for the Swallow* is recorded 

 in Loudon's ' Magazine of Natural History,' where it 

 is stated that Mr. F. G. Tatem, observed two Swallows 

 at High Wycombe on the 22nd November. 



Martin [Hinmdo urbica). This abundant species 

 usually arrives in small companies of from five to ten 

 or twelve, towards the end of the first or the beginning 

 of the second week in April. Martins like Swallows 

 have been always regarded as harbingers of spring, 

 and their arrival is eagerly looked for by all. In the 

 year 1867 they arrived earlier than usual. Mr. Ingram, 

 Her Majesty's gardener at Windsor, observed several 

 House Martins during the last week in March. 



Sand-Martin {Hinmdo riparid). A summer 

 visitor, arriving during the first week in April in 

 little bands, larger flocks following in a few days. 

 It is common everywhere during the summer months, 

 and large numbers may be seen along the banks of 

 the Thames, where a few remain to breed. About 



* For a capital account of the habits of this bird, vide pp. 324-327 

 of Mr. Henry Stevenson's 'Birds of Norfolk,' vol. i. 



