466 Mr. D. A. Baniierman un the [Ibis, 



At any rate. May and June are the months when nesting is 

 at its height. I do not know whether a second brood is 

 raised in the season. The Black Swifts prepare for depar- 

 ture about the end of September^ and all have left by the 

 middle of October. It seems therefore only to be absent 

 from the islands about two and a half months, and even 

 then, as Meade- Waldo remarks, " birds turn up when the 

 main body is absent." 



Western Group. 



In the western islands of the group the Black Swift is 

 abundant, particularly in Gran Canaria iind Tenerife. 

 It breeds in the deep barrancos and in the mountains in 

 holes and crevices of the rocks, also doubtless in the sea- 

 cliffs. It is also recorded from Pal ma and Gomera, and 

 probably inhabits Hierro. 



The following are extracts from diaries, etc., kept by 

 various ornithologists who have worked in the group. The 

 names of the authorities quoted are enclosed in brackets 

 with a reference to their papers : — 



Gran Canaria. 



"Breeds in the Curubres, wliere tliey are especially numerous." 

 (BoUe, J, t. 0. 1857, p. 323.) 



A flock of C. unicolor noted on 20 March, 1888. (Tristram, Ibis, 

 ]889, p. 23.) 



" Numbers playing over the plain on the next day, 21 March." 

 (Tristram, Ibis, 1889, p. 25.) 



" Common in the gardens of TaHra." (Polatzek, Orn. Jahrb. 1908, 

 p. 164.) 



" I saw it wherever I went in 1909." (Von Thanner, Orn. Jahrb. 

 1910, p. 89.) 



" Generally found in the south of Gran Canaria, where it frequents 

 the deep barrancos and roosts in the high overhanging cliffs. 

 A few birds occasionally wander to the ' charco ' on the shore near 

 Maspalomas, and there is a colony in the Barranco de Fataga 

 which I discovered on the 28th of February, 1912. This species 

 is generally confined to the higher levels. I have seldom seen it 

 in the north of the island, but there is a colony in the Barranco 

 de la Virgen, near Firgas, and another near Tafira." (Banner- 

 man, Ibis, 1912, p. 596.) 



