FIRST APPEARANCES OF BIRDS, INSECTS, ETC. 191 



this way. The Rev. S. E. V. Filleul returned " two House 

 Martins were seen by several people at Upwey on 10th 

 January (s.c. 1913)." I editorially questioned the record as 

 in duty bound, as it was most extraordinary. The Rev. 

 S. E. V. Filleul then wrote me 



" I believe that the visit of two or three House Martins on January 

 10th, 1913, to Upwey was quite genuine. My mother wrote to tell me 

 of it. I went down a day or two after and found that she could not 

 swear to the fact, as her sight was not good enough, but only that she 

 had seen the birds flying up and down, and they were said to be 

 swallows. The gardener and boy saw them, and several people living 

 close by remarked upon them. They were evidently House Martins, 

 for I enquired carefully about that. I think that Colonel Mainwaring 

 could tell you more about it ; he lives in Upwey (Wabey House). In 

 fact, I am not at all sure whether he did not actually see them. Of 

 course they attracted a good deal of attention. The birds were not 

 bred at Upwey, but were passing and were only seen that day. Some 

 were recorded in Ireland quite as late as that I noticed." 



I accordingly wrote to Colonel Mainwaring, who writes me 

 as follows : 



" I beg to state that the Rev. S. E. V. Filleul is evidently mistaken 

 in referring you to me regarding the supposed occurrence of the House 

 Martin at Upwey on 10th January, 1913. I did not see any House 

 Martins flying about here in January ; but I did see a Swallow, and wrote 

 to the Editor of the ' Field ' on the 8th of January and reported tho 

 fact of my having seen a swallow on the 3rd, and such was duly inserted 

 under the Notes and Queries, Tho Naturalist, in the ' Field ' of 10th 

 and llth January, 1913. I also wrote to the Editors of the ' Morning 

 Post ' and the ' Dorset Chronicle ' about it, as I thought such an 

 occurrence most extraordinary." 



On that evidence I would remark that Mr. Filleul's note is 

 report, supported, however, by careful enquiry, and that 

 Colonel Mainwaring's is first-hand evidence ; that the birds 

 were reported to Mr. Filleul first as Swallows and subsequently 

 changed to House Martins, while Colonel Mainwaring's 

 identification is "a swallow ; " that young swallows have 

 shorter tails than adult birds, and would therefore be more 

 easily confounded with house martins ; that while the 



