];u 



THE SAND-MARTIN. 



Cotile riparia (L.). 



The arrival o£ the Sand-Martin was first recorded on the 23rd 

 o£ March, when a small flock appeared on the coast of Hamp- 

 shire. This was followed by others in Devonshire on March 

 the 29th, and the main body of the first immigration reached 

 the same area during the two following days. These birds 

 seem to have travelled gradually northwards through Wales 

 and the western Midlands, reaching Staffordshire, Cheshire, 

 Derbyshire and Cumberland on April the 8th, and Denbigh, 

 Northamptonshire, Lancashire and Yorkshire on the 9th ; 

 while a few stragglers penetrated as far east as Surrey on 

 the 6th. 



On April 8th a second immigration arrived on the coasts of 

 Devon, Dorset and Hampshire, a few birds extending as far 

 east as Sussex. Other flocks arrived in Dorset on the 10th 

 and 11th, and in Devon and Cornwall on the 12th. The 

 more westerly arrivals again passed through Wales and the 

 western Midlands, while the more easterly ones appeared to 

 have travelled northwards, spreading more gradually east- 

 wards, so that the south-eastern and eastern counties were 

 reached at a later date than the western and midland 

 counties. 



The next immigration probably occurred on the Devon and 

 Dorset coasts, and, though it was not recorded, accounted for 

 an increase in Wiltshire on April loth. This was followed 

 by arrivals in Sussex on the 16th, in Dorset and Kent on 

 17th, and in Devon, Dorset and Sussex on the 19th. The 

 northward spread in the west of England could be again 

 easily traced, but it was not until after the arrival of the 



