135 



THE SWIFT. 



Cypselus apus (L.). 



The Swift arrived along the whole of the south coast, but in 

 largest numbers on the western half. 



Stragglers began to put in an appearance in our southern 

 counties during the third week in April, and arrivals of 

 small parties were evidently tolerably frequent during the last 

 week of that month. These were noticed in various localities 

 almost entirely in the western half of the kingdom, as far 

 north as Westmoreland and Ayrshire, which were reached 

 on the 25th and 27th respectively. On the 30th of April 

 the main immigration of this species commenced and con- 

 tinued throughout the following month, flocks of birds 

 arriving at many points on the south coast almost daily. 

 This large and extensive movement was recorded at the 

 Channel Islands, and the lighthouse-keeper at the Caskets 

 reported that Swifts were flying north-east past that station 

 in large numbers daily throughout the month. The greater 

 part of the immigrants during the first four days in May 

 arrived on the western half of the coast and passed north 

 through Wales and the western Midlands, and it was not 

 until after the arrival of a considerable body of birds in Kent 

 on the 4th and 5th of May that the eastern counties began to 

 be occupied. It is clear that throughout May the number 

 of migrants passing through the western half of the kingdom 

 was greater than that through the eastern counties, and the 

 successive arrivals could be traced with some precision, up 

 to the middle of the month, by means of the records in the 

 Chronological Summary. 



