SWALLOW. 109 



together^ and roost in osier- and reed-beds at the water side, 

 often in very large numbers. On the 19th July, 1^83, I 

 found a vast concourse, calculated at about fifteen hundred 

 birds, roosting in the reeds at Clattercote Reservoir. Dimng 

 severe weather, after their arrival in spring. Swallows often 

 perish from cold or starvation, as in 1886, when many Swal- 

 lows and Martins died after four days of N.N.E. wind and 

 heavy cold rain. At the close of summer that year, the 

 devastation effected could be clearly traced in the small 

 numbers to be seen in the air after the second broods had 

 flown, when in an ordinary year they should have swarmed. 



A considerable portion of our Swallows depart at the end 

 of September, but in varying numbers some remain until 

 mid October and even later. Many instances of Swallows 

 being seen in November are on record ; thus, four were seen at 

 Chinnor on the 2nd in 1880 (B. D^O. Aplin), two at Bloxham 

 Grove on the i6th in the same year, one at Stanton Harcourt 

 on the 18th in 1877 (W. H. Warner), and individuals by Mr. 

 J. Goatley on the loth, 12th, and 24tli in 1830 [Loudon s 

 Magazine of Natural History, 1 83 1 ). At "Weston-on-the-Green 

 a Swallow was seen on the 28th February, 1846, and three 

 more on the following day {Zoologist, 1849, p. 2535). These 

 can hardly have been early migrants, and must have wintered 

 somewhere in Eng-land. 



The arrival of the first Swallow, although accompanied, as 

 it too often is, by bitter east winds or wet stormy weather, 

 when flying scuds of rain and hail — perhaps snow — are alter- 

 nated with fitful gleams of chilly sunshine, is eagerly looked 

 for by many to whom, however ungenial the weather is at 

 the time, the sight of the Swallow^s form flitting over the 

 sm-face of the river, or skimming quickly past us in the 

 fields, speaks more forcibly than can any almanac of the 

 near approach of the short English summer. 



Again, in the still autumn days, though the sun may shine 

 warm and bright, yet mellowed by the slight haze which fills 



