NEEDLE-TAILED SWIFT. 



ACANTHYLLIS CAUD ACUTA {Lath.). 



Hirundo caudacuta, Lath. Synops. Suppl. ii. p. Ivii (1801). 

 Acanthyllis caudacuta, Yarr. ed. 4, ii. p. 371 ; Dresser, iv. 

 p. 613. 



I find only two records of the occurrence of this 

 species in Great Britain : the first at Great Horkesley, 

 near Colchester, on July 8th, 1846, and the other 

 towards the end of July 1879, near Ring wood, Hants ; 

 in this latter instance the bird had been observed flying 

 over the river Avon, with a companion of its own species, 

 for a few days before its capture. Mr. H. Saunders, 

 from whose work I am quoting, states that at the time 

 of the publication of his * Manual ' this bird had not 

 been noticed in any other part of Europe ; that during 

 the summer it inhabits South-eastern Siberia, Mongolia, 

 Manchuria, Japan, and the mountainous regions of 

 China and Tibet, also the Eastern Himalayas, migrating 

 as far southwards as Eastern Australia and Tasmania in 

 the cold season. As this is a species which would 

 probably be impossible to keep alive for any length of 

 time in captivity, I hold that the well-authenticated 

 instances of its occurrence in England above men- 

 tioned fully entitle it to a place amongst British birds. 



