122 CY PSEUDS. 



obtained at Morocco ; and has been found as a straggler near 

 Malaga. 



Hind claw long and nearly straight. Back pale fawn-colour, the adult 

 male having a black gorget and two long black ear-tufts. Length 

 b' inches. 



Order PICARI-S1. Family CYPSELIDJE. 



Tail of ten feathers. 



149. Cypselus apus, Linnaeus. Common Swift. 



Moorish. Tair abila (Favier}. Spanish. Avion. 



"This Swift arrives at Tangier, en route for Europe, during 

 March and April ; vast numbers remain to nest here, and return 

 south in September and October." Favier. 



Mr. Meade-Waldo saw a Swift near Tangier as early as the 

 22nd of February, 1892. 



The above notes equally apply to the Common Swift in 

 Andalucia, the earliest date of arrival noted being the 4th of 

 March, the main body passing during the last fortnight in that 

 month, some as late as the 24th of April. The majority leave by 

 the end of August, some staying on into the middle of September, 

 the last being seen on the 16th of October. The number in 

 some towns, particularly Algeciraz, is perfectly marvellous, and 

 the noise they make morning and evening quite annoying. 



Verner writes : " In order to compare nests of this Swift with 

 those of the next species, I visited great numbers of nests of the 

 Common Swift on the Rock. In the Casemate Barracks a large 

 number nest yearly in the verandahs, and there, as elsewhere, I 

 found all the nests, if there were any, to be only a heap of 

 castings and insects' wings, and now and then the remnants of a 

 Sparrow's nest. In most cases the eggs were laid on the bare 

 mortar and there was no attempt to weld the castings &c. 

 together with mucilage. I caught and released a number of old 



