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THE SWIFT. 



Cypselus apus (L.). 



The Swift arrived along the whole o£ the south coast, but 

 the earlier stragglers seem to have appeared entirely in the 

 west. The first birds were reported from the counties of 

 Devonshire, Glamorgan, Yorkshire and Cumberland on the 

 25th of April, and from that date to the end of the month small 

 numbers were noted in many localities, but almost entirely 

 in the western half of the kingdom. The arrival of some- 

 Avhat larger numbers began in the west on the 30th of April 

 and in Kent on the 1st of May. From that date till the 11th 

 a continuous and gradually increasing wave of migrants 

 arrived on the south coast, reaching its maximum between 

 the 7th and 9th, the larger proportion landing between 

 Devonshire and Hampshire. On the 11th immigration 

 seems to have abruptly ceased, and all our summer- 

 residents appear to have arrived. Records of increased 

 numbers in Sussex, Essex and Surrey on the 17th, 23rd 

 and 27th may, however, indicate further small arrivals on 

 the eastern half of the south coast in the latter half of the 

 month. The immigrants swept northwards in large numbers 

 with great rapidity, particularly after the advent of the main 

 body on the 7th, 8th and 9th ; at the same time there was 

 evidence that the western wing advanced more rapidly than 

 the eastern, while the former included a much larger propor- 

 tion of passage migrants on their way to the more northern 

 parts of the kingdom than the latter. By the 16th of May 

 migration had practically ceased. A nest with eggs was 

 found in Hampshire on the 14th, and birds were reported as 

 already sitting in Cumberland on the 20th. 



