286 BIRD-LIFE IN A SOUTHERN COUNTY. 



finally disappear for the year (except in a few 

 abnormal instances); but the passage of the 

 Swallows is prolonged almost every year into the 

 first days of November. The migration of these 

 birds in autumn is exceptionally interesting. During 

 the past season (1898) we spent the entire day 

 on the sands on the 7th and 8th of September, 

 watching a vast southern flight of Swallows and 

 Martins, the former birds predominating. From 

 early moaning until the dusk of evening these 

 birds were continually passing Paignton, flying 

 exactly south. Many of the birds were flying 

 a mile or more from land over the waters of 

 the bay, but the majority flew either over the 

 sands, close inshore, or a little way inland. Young 

 birds, of course, were by far the most numerous; 

 yet we should say that, generally speaking, each 

 brood or double brood was accompanied by a 

 pair of old birds. Tens of thousands must have 

 passed over, especially on the 8th, in a fitful, 

 fluttering throng. Some of the birds were feeding 

 as they migrated, flying here and there in quest 

 of insects, but never dallying long; others passed 

 steadily over, and not a few occasionally burst 

 into song. With a glass we could watch the 



