306 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



Hancock that he had shot a Pied Flycatcher near St. Mary's 

 Island, and on going to pick it up found he had shot a Wryneck 

 also. Very probably this would be in April, 1833, the date on 

 which the only Wryneck which Hancock records for the district 

 was shot. Mr. C. M. Adamson, in his ' Scraps about Birds,' 

 states that a male in his collection was shot at Briery Dene on 

 April 23rd, 1870 ; it was very tame, flitting from bush to bush 

 before him. Mr. Eichardson tells me he has set up several, got 

 between 1900 and 1904. 



Swallow {Hirundo rustica) .— Avrives in fair numbers, but 

 seldom breeds here. The average date of arrival is April 29th. 

 My brother observed two young birds on the cliffs just north of 

 St. Mary's Island on Nov. 1st in 1905 ; and on Nov. 13th in 1909 

 an adult was seen near the same spot ; both of which are very 

 late occurrences. Occasionally migration is to be observed in 

 full swing on the coast as the following extract from the 

 ' Transactions of the Natural History Society of Northumber- 

 land, Durham, and Newcastle-on-Tyne' (New Series, vol. iii. 

 part i.) by E. Leonard Gill, Esq. (Curator, Hancock Museum), will 

 show : ** on the coast between Whitley Bay and St. Mary's Island 

 on May 1st, 1908, we witnessed what was evidently a migration 

 flight in progress. All the morning small parties of Swallows 

 were passing north up the coast, flying chiefly just above the 

 banks. In contrast to their usual manner of flight, the steady 

 and undeviating way in which these birds pushed forward 

 towards the north was very striking. We saw at the same time 

 a single party of Swifts, similarly flying directly north but at 

 probably three times the speed of the Swallows. There were 

 many other evidences of migration that morning at St. Mary's 

 Island. Numbers of Wheatears and Pied Wagtails were about 

 on the rocks, and we also saw a pair of Yellow Wagtails, a rather 

 scarce bird in this district at any time." 



House Martin {Chelidon urbica). — A fairly common resident, 

 which breeds among the cliffs near the table rocks, Whitley, 

 and also on suitable houses in the district. More common at 

 migration time in spring and autumn ; the usual date of arrival 

 being April 23rd or thereabouts. 



Sand-Martin {Cotile rijjaria). — Formerly a fairly common 

 resident, but now only seen on migration. Up to recent 



