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THE SAND-MARTIN. 



Cotile riparia (L.). 



The Sand-Martin arrived along the whole of the south coast, 

 but chiefly on the western halt'. 



The species was first reported from Cardiganshire on the 

 13th of March. Between the 15th of that month and the 

 2nd of April, the birds arrived on the south coast at 

 various points, mostly in small numbers, but here and there 

 in larger parties, and passed northwards through Wales and 

 the western counties, reaching Cumberland by the 31st. A 

 few stragglers only seem to have reached the south-eastern 

 counties. 



Between the 3rd and 7th of April immigrations arrived 

 on a rather larger scale and seem to have settled down in 

 the areas already occupied. 



Between the 12th and 18th of April a second series of 

 movements on a still larger scale passed into the country and 

 included a considerable influx into Kent, evidently comprising 

 a large number of the breeding-birds of the south-eastern 

 counties and East Anglia. Otherwise the main bulk of this 

 immigration seems to have spread north through the western 

 Midlands reaching Cumberland and Ayrshire on the 17th. 



After that date the immigrations were not clearly recorded 

 on the coast, but it seems probable that the birds continued 

 to arrive daily or almost daily j particularly on the western 

 portion of the south coast, until the middle of May. A 

 considerable proportion of these were probably passage- 

 migrants on their way to breeding-places farther north. 

 They were noticed on the Carnarvonshire coast passing 



