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THE HOUSE-MARTIN. 



Chelidon urhica (L.). 



A SINGLE House-Martin observed in Devonshire on the 27th 

 o£ March constituted the earliest record o£ this species. 

 During the first week in April stragglers were recorded from 

 Cornwall, Hampshire, Sussex, Middlesex, Shropshire, Staf- 

 fordshire, Derbyshire, Brecon and the Isle of Man. On the 

 10th of April arrivals were noted in Yorkshire, and from that 

 date onwards there was a steady increase in the numbers, the 

 birds apparently entering the country all along the south and 

 south-east coasts. Westmoreland was reached on the 15th, 

 Cumberland on the 20th, and Northumberland on the 21st, 

 an increase taking place in the two first-named counties on 

 the 26th of April. 



On the 27th of April hundreds were observed in Dorset- 

 shire passing from east to west, and unusual numbers were 

 reported both from that county and from Staffordshire on 

 the 3rd of May. 



During the second week of May the birds began to settle 

 down in their haunts, but a great influx into Glamorganshire 

 on the 17th, and a large increase in Wiltshire on the 29th, 

 showed that numbers of birds were still passing through the 

 country. 



Even as late as the 18th of July an observer in Essex 

 wrote that vast numbers had arrived from the east, but this 

 was probably the beginning of the return migration. 



The only lighthouse-record came from St. Bees (Cumber- 

 land), where two were seen at 3 p.m. on the 19th, and six at 

 3.30 P.M. on the 22nd of May. 



House-Martins were reported to be nesting in Suffolk on 



