578 General Notes. [§£ 



March 28. The inference is, of course, that if the Tree Swallow is watched 

 for by more observers, and if stations as favorable as Plymouth are selected, 

 the Plymouth average will be duplicated or even surpassed. 



Following are dates of arrival in Plymouth (Chiltonville — " Head of the 

 Beach"): 



1908. Mar. 7. First swallow. 



" 16. A flock. (A mild first week of March.) 



1909. " 11. A flock of 20 swallows. 

 " 12. Same flock. 



" 17. Snowing. Flock sits on a telephone wire near the beach 

 in p.m. 22°-24° above zero. 



" 18 A cold and blustering morning. No swallows. 

 19. A few swallows at the beach. 



" 25. A flock of swallows feeding on the bayberries, of which 

 there are a plenty this spring. Very blowy and rough, 

 and from noon a hard rain fell, which increased at night 

 almost to a gale. But not a low temperature. 



1910. " 20. A south wind has blown probably for 36 hours. Warm 



today. Quite a lot of swallows are here. Don't 

 think they were here yesterday. 

 " 22. Saw some swallows in the morning at the head of the 

 beach. Also saw two or three swallows in East 

 Middleborough. 



1911. " 18. A swallow or two. 



" 22. A number of swallows seen. 



" 23. Quite a lot of Swallows that settled by the hundreds on 

 the bayberries. 



" 24. More swallows today. 



" 26. Swallows lively and plentiful. Two or three days last 

 week were very rough, cold, and wintry, yet the swal- 

 lows were flying around today. I wonder where and 

 how they pass the cold nights. 



1912. " 19. A flock of 50 swallows seen between 11 and 12 o'clock. 



1913. " 23. Saw the first swallows — a dozen or more. 



1914. Apr. 4. Saw one swallow' — also a flock of 8 or 10. Strange 



that they should be so late this year. 

 1917. Swallows appeared during the week of March 18, after 



the snowy conditions resulting from the great storm of 

 March 4 and 5 had disappeared. This storm probably 

 made them late this year. But once arrived in Plym- 

 outh, the Tree Swallows seem to come to stay. They 

 hang on in the face of bad conditions and rarely beat 

 a retreat, as they so often do elsewhere. To illustrate: 

 " April 9 was sunny and scarcely coolish. But at 

 5 a.m. on the 10th a blizrzard began, with snow and a 

 hard blow, so that the street cars soon stopped run- 



