119 



THE SWALLOW. 



Hirundo rustica L. 



The earliest appearance of the Swallow was reported at 

 Hayling Island, where one was seen on the 21st and several 

 on the 27th o£ March. An exceptionally early bird was 

 seen in Yorkshire on the 29th of that month. Through- 

 out the greater part of England, however, its first 

 appearance dated from the 5th and 7th of April, though it 

 was not reported from Cumberland till the 9th, from the 

 Isle of Man till the 11th, and from Northumberland till 

 the 13th. 



A large immigration was reported during the night of the 

 16th/17th of April at St. Catherine's light, Isle of Wight, 

 and at the Nab light-vessel, also off the Hampshire coast ; 

 numbers were seen travelling north by day on the 19thj 

 24th, 26th, 29th and 30th of April, while smaller numbers 

 were recorded from the former station on most days between 

 the 17th of April and the 14th of May. In the southern 

 counties many were seen in Kent on the 12th. 13th and 17th 

 of April, in Hants from the 7th till the end of the month ; 

 and in Dorset on the 11th, and between the 14th and 18th of 

 that month. In the south-west, in Devon and Cornwall, 

 though first seen on the 5th of April^ no general increase 

 was noted till the 19th, when Swallows became numerous. 



On the east coast (Essex, Suffolk and Norfolk) the earliest 

 arrivals were noted on the 7th of April, and after that date a 

 small increase was noted in all three counties from the 14th 

 to the 18th. During the following days, from the 19th to 

 the 28th, large numbers, probably the main body, arrived, 

 after which there was a slight lull until a second immigration 

 was noted in Suffolk on the 7th of May. In Surrey a marked 



