240 HIKUNDINID/E. 



the possession of R, B. Hale, Esq. M. P. of Aklerley, to 

 whom I am indebted for tlie use of a British-killed Bee- 

 eater, as mentioned at page 202, that gentleman has most 

 obligingly allowed me the use of the White-bellied Swift 

 also for this work, and the figure at the head of the last page 

 Avas drawn from it. The second bird in order of date, was 

 shot near Buckenham Church in Norfolk, in the middle of 

 September 1831, and is now in the possession of a gentle- 

 man at Old Buckenham. The third specimen w^as killed 

 early in March 1833, at Rathfarnham in Ireland, and is pre- 

 served in the fine collection of birds belonging to T. W. 

 Warren, Esq. as noticed by Mr. Thompson of Belfast ; and 

 the fourth Avas picked up dead, near Saffron Walden, in 

 Essex, in July 1838, as communicated to me by Joseph 

 Clarke, Esq. 



This bird visits the continent of Europe, from Africa, 

 every season, and is found at Gibraltar, in Spain, Provence, 

 France, Switzerland, the Tyrol, Italy, the islands of Sardinia, 

 Malta, and those of the Grecian Archipelago. On its arrival, 

 Dr. Latham says, it frequents ponds and marshes for fifteen 

 or twenty days, after which it retires to the mountainous 

 parts to breed. In Spain this bird builds among the high 

 rocks about Aragon. In France, M. Vieillot says, this spe- 

 cies only shows itself in the countries bordering on the Alps. 

 It flies with still greater rapidity than the Common Swift, and 

 has in proportion a greater length of wing, feeding almost ex- 

 clusively on those insects which live in the high regions of air. 

 The bird appears to have the general habits of our Common 

 Swift, from which, however, it is easily recognised, even when 

 on the wing, by its larger size, and its conspicuous white belly. 

 High rocks, and the loftiest parts of cathedrals and church 

 spires, arc the places chosen by this bird, in the fissures of 

 which it forms a nest of straw and moss, and these are united 

 by a glutinous matter, which, when dry, makes the nest very 



