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THE SAND-MARTIN. 



Cotile riparia (L.). 



Sand-Martins arrived along the whole o£ the south coast^ 

 but first and principally on the western portion. 



The first bird was reported from Hampshire on the 18th o£ 

 March, and between the 25th o£ that month and the 6th 

 o£ April a few stragglers came in, almost i£ not entirely, at 

 the western end o£ the south coast, and were reported from 

 different localities, chiefly in the western half of the king- 

 dom, as far north as Lanark. Between the 7th and the 20th 

 of April several immigrations occurred at different points 

 along the whole of the south coast, the largest numbers 

 apparently arriving in the west on the 13th and from the 

 18th to the 20th ; none of these movements, however, were 

 of any magnitude, and though widely distributed all over 

 the country by the end of the third week in April, Sand- 

 Martins do not seem to have appeared in large numbers 

 anywhere. 



Movements on a larger scale began on the 25th of April, 

 and from that date up to the 6th of May arrivals were 

 taking place daily on the w^estern half of the coast, and at 

 intervals on the eastern half. During the course of this 

 immigration the colonies all over the country quickly filled 

 up, and the earlier arrivals had already commenced nesting- 

 operations. They were seen entering their nesting-holes 

 in Yorkshire on the 26th of April, in Staffordshire on 

 the 6th of May_, in Dorset on the 13th and in Hertfordshire 

 on the 14th, while eggs were found in Somerset on the 4th 

 and in Northumberland on the 19th. 



Further arrivals apparently continued to take place at 

 intervals up to the 25th of May, and migration seems to have 



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