93 



THE HOUSE-MARTIN. 



Chelidon urhica (L.) 



Eeom an examination of the schedules and a comparison 

 of the records for the House-Martin with those of the 

 Swallow two striking points of difference between the im- 

 migrations of these two species at once become clear^ at 

 all events as far as the spring of 1905 is concerned. 



Firstly^ whereas the Swallow arrived along the whole 

 of the south coast, the House-Martin appeared to reach 

 the land only at the extreme west and at the extreme 

 east of the south coast. There is no evidence of its 

 having arrived from over-sea, either on the Dorset or the 

 Hampshire coast, and it was not recorded from these 

 counties in any numbers until after the arrival of the last 

 immigrants on the coasts of Kent and Sussex. 



Secondly, whereas the Swallow travelled up through 

 Wales and left the country in large numbers from the 

 Anglesea coast, the House-Martin kept more to the east 

 and spread into Wales in small numbers only, while it did 

 not reach north Wales until late in the spring. 



There were four marked immigrations of the House- 

 Martin, besides the records of early stragglers, which 

 appeared in Radnor on April 3rd, and in Berkshire, Sussex 

 and Surrey on April 8th and 9th, Yorkshire April 11th, 

 and Durham April 12th. 



The first immigration of note occurred on the south 

 coast between April 10th and 16th. The earlier im- 

 migrants, however, were missed on the actual coast, as 

 the birds were first recorded in numbers from Somerset 

 (April 11th to 17th), and from Horsham in Sussex (April 10th 

 to 16th), but some arriving a little later were observed on the 

 Sussex coast on April 15th and 16th. None of these birds 



