125 



THE HOUSE-MARTIX. 



Chelidon urbi'ca (L,). 



This species arrived along the whole of the south coast. The 

 earliest records included three birds seen in Hampshire on 

 the 28th of March, and two in Shropshire on the 30th. 

 House-Martins had reached Cheshire and Durham on the 9th 

 of April ; a slight increase was noted in the latter county on 

 the 10th, and a large increase on the 11th, on which day the 

 first bird appeared in the Clyde area. 



An increase in Devonshire on the 13th of April, and 

 arrivals in Cornwall, Dorsetshire and Hampshire on the 

 same d;iy, followed by a further increase in Devonshire on 

 the two following days, indicated that the inimigratory 

 stream had now fairly set in. On the 18th about 300 birds 

 were observed passing in Suffolk, and a large flock, also on 

 passage, was reported from Kent on the 19th. On the 29th 

 another large migratory movement was recorded in Devon- 

 shire, and by that date the species had become widely dis- 

 tributed, but fresh arrivals continued to pour into the 

 country throughout May. A great increase was recorded in 

 Glamorgan on the 13th, and in Northumberland on the 

 16th, while, on the latter date, observers in Carnarvon noted 

 numbers passing throughout the da}'. By the middle of the 

 month the birds had begun to settle down in their haunts, 

 and no very marked movements took place after the 21st. 

 The full complement of nesting-birds had not, however, 

 arrived in the south-eastern counties until the last week of 

 the month. 



House-Martins were building in Surrey and Suffolk on 

 the 16th of May, in Somersetshire and Middlesex on the 

 18th, and in Lincolnshire and Lancashire on the 19th. 



