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1871; 26th of March, 1872; 28th of March, 1874; 29th of 

 March, 1876 (Verner); 28th of March, 1877 (Verner) -, 29th of 

 March, 1894. None were seen on the 30th, many on the 31st of 

 March, 1894 ; none on the 1st, 2nd, 3rd of April, many on the 

 6th ; some on the 7th, many on 8th and 9th, most on the 10th ; 

 numbers on llth, 12th, 13th, and 14th. They were observed 

 passing in great numbers from the 10th to the 14th of April 

 in three consecutive years, the greatest quantity arriving on the 

 10th; so, in Spanish fashion, I christened that date "St. Bee- 

 eater's day." The latest flight I ever saw going north was on the 

 7th of May. 



Having remained at Gibraltar once only during July and 

 August, I had but that opportunity of watching the return 

 migration, which appeared during the last week in July and also 

 on the llth and 12th of August, the last being noticed on the 

 29th of that month, all with few exceptions being heard passing 

 at night. Verner noticed the return migration at Gibraltar on 

 the 20th of July and on the 18th of August, earliest and latest 

 dates. The first arrivals, as is the case with all migrants, are 

 those which remain to breed in the immediate neighbourhood. 

 Commencing their labours of excavation almost immediately they 

 arrive, the earliest eggs that I know of were taken on the 29th 

 of April ; but usually they do not lay till about the second week 

 in May, often not so soon. 



In some places they nest in large colonies ; in others there are 

 perhaps only two or three holes. When there are no river-banks 

 or barrancos in which to bore holes, they tunnel down into the 

 ground, where the soil is suitable, in a slightly vertical direction, 

 on some elevated mound. 



The shafts to these nests are not usually so long as those in 

 banks of rivers, which sometimes reach to a distance of eight or 

 nine feet in all ; the end is enlarged into a round sort of chamber, 

 on the bare soil of which the usual four or five shining white 

 eggs are placed ; after a little they become discoloured from the 



