384 HIRUNDINID/E. 



even in windy weather, which the other species seern much to 

 dislike ; nay, even frequenting exposed seaport towns, and making- 

 little excursions over the salt water. The " excursions " of the 

 swallow over Belfast bay are of daily occurrence throughout 

 s umm er. It may be chiefly observed attendant on the in-coming 

 tide, where we may presume its food is most abundant, owing 

 probably to the insects being driven off the beach by the 

 encroaching waters. I remarked during the summer of 1S38, that 

 swallows course as regularly over the masses of Zostera marina 

 with which the beach is covered on the western shore of Belfast 

 bay, as they do over any meadows. On the evening of the 2nd 

 of August, they were perched in great numbers on stakes which 

 rise above the sea, and were likewise busily feeding over the sur- 

 face of the tide, on the insects roused probably by its flowing over 

 the Zostera. The stakes alluded to are just such as, — were they 

 more remote from a public road, — cormorants would alight on to 

 expand and dry their outstretched wings. August 4ttk. — Heavy 

 rain to-day till about 2 o' clock, when it cleared up. I then 

 walked out and the tide being full, remarked the tops of a number 

 of the large stones near Holywood, to be covered with H. rustica 

 (such as I saw distinctly, wanted the long tail-feathers). They 

 all sat with their heads in the same direction, like flocks of Gral- 

 latores awaiting the falling of the tide. There were perhaps 

 twenty on the largest stone. During the following summer, I 

 remarked the swallows' daily flight above the waves of the sea, to 

 be as regular as anywhere on land. When on different occasions, 

 in the month of June, on the low mass of rock called the Mew 

 Island (the smallest of the three Copeland Islands, off the coast of 

 Down), tins species, and it alone of the Hirundinida, always 

 appeared ; thus proving a propensity to range, as there is not a 

 spot on the islet that would afford accommodation for its nest. 



Flying late, Sfc. Mr. White (of Selborne) remarks of the swift, 

 that " in the longest days it does not withdraw to rest till a 

 quarter before nine in the evening, being the latest of all day 

 birds." In the general terms in winch this was meant ta be 

 understood, it agrees with my observation ; but I have occasionally 



