115 



THE SWALLOW. 



Hirundo rustica (L.). 



The Swallow arrived along the whole o£ the south coast. 

 The first record was from Wiltshire on the 22nd of March, and 

 single birds were observed in Devonshire, Berkshire, Middle- 

 sex and Bedford during the remainder of that month. It 

 was not until the middle of April, however, that the birds 

 began to arrive in any numbers, those observed up to the 

 14th being again single birds or very small parties and 

 mostly confined to the more southern counties, the excep- 

 tions being solitary birds noted in Lancashire, Staffordshire 

 and Cheshire on the 7th, 8th and 14th. On the 15th of 

 April immigration started in earnest, and from that date 

 onwards to the end of the second week in May Swallows 

 were arriving daily in one or more districts of the south 

 coast. By far the larger proportion seem to have landed to 

 the west of Hampshire, particularly during the last week in 

 April and the first fortnight of May, when Swallows were 

 arriving in and passing through Devonshire in an almost 

 uninterrupted stream. On the 10th of May several parties 

 were reported by an observer on H.M.S. 'Africa,' in 

 lat. 50° N., long. 3° W. (approx.), as having been seen in 

 the forenoon flying close over the water in an E.N.E. 

 direction, i. e. towards the Dorsetshire coast, distant about 

 45 miles. From the commencement of this prolonged 

 movement the birds seem to have passed rapidly north- 

 wards, and particularly in the western side of the kingdom, 

 as was shown by the increased numbers reported during the 

 next few days. On the 17th of April first arrivals were 

 reported from no less than twelve counties, and some numbers 

 had reached Yorkshire on the 18th, while first arrivals were 



