470 Mr. D. A. Bantiernian on the [Ibis, 



I have been unable to examine a specimen from the 

 Canary Islands. There is not one in either the British 

 or Tring Museums, but I feel justified in including the 

 Common Swift in the list of authentic migrants as I have no 

 doubt that Polatzek will prove to be correct in his statement. 



Examination of Polatzek's collection, which is mostly in 

 the Vienna Museum, will probably confirm this view. 



BoUe's statement in the J. f. O. 1857, p. 322, under the 

 heading of Cypselus apus, obviously refers to the Pale Swift 

 {M. m. brehmorum), which breeds in the tower of the 

 Cathedral in Las Palmas, and is erroneously included under 

 the heading of the Common Swift. This has already been 

 pointed out by Polatzek (Orn. Jahrb. 1909, p. 119). 



Range. The Swift breeds in Europe and in north-west 

 Africa, and ranges in winter to South Africa. There are 

 skins in the Tring Museum obtained in the Rio de Ore on 

 the 11th of August, 190.2. 



Family Meropid^. 



Merops apiaster. Bee-eater. 



Merops apiaster Linn. Syst. Nat. 10th ed. 1758, p. 117 — 

 Type locality : South Europe. 



The Bee-eater is an irregular Bird of Passage to the 

 Canary Islands and has been known to remain to breed. 



It is sometimes very numerous on migration, especially 

 in the eastern islands, and occasionally remains to rest for 

 a lew days. 



M. apiaster is first recorded by Viera, who says that very 

 large flocks appeared at Ciudadof Canaria [i.e. Las Palmas] 

 in 1788 and in May" 1800. I have not seen Viera's 

 Dictionary myself, but the description is said by Savile Reid 

 to undoubtedly refer to M. apiaster (Ibis, 1888, p. 75). 



Webb and Berthelot considered it to be " accidental on 

 migration,'' and note: — "It arrives sometimes in the islands 

 in winter, spreading over all the islands without remaining 

 very long. In December 1828 a flock lived in the Dragon 

 Tree at Orotava, Tenerife " (Orn. Canarienne, p. 25). 



BoUe recorded the arrival of those in December 1828, 



