3 
Copenhagen, says :—“‘ Bysvale ’ is the common name here for this bird. Formerly it was called 
‘ Skorstens-svale’ (lit. Chimney-Swallow); for, owing to the mode of building the chimneys then 
in vogue, it usually placed its nest on them. Besides these it has many local names, chiefly 
derived from its mode of nidification. At Falster, for instance, it is called ‘ Kirkesvale, as the 
churches are the best places for building its nest; and it is also called ‘ Kjcebstadsvale,’ ‘ Murs- 
-vale,’ and, on account of its white rump, ‘ Hvidbag’ and ‘ Hvidsvale.’ The average date of its 
arrival here (in Denmark) is the 6th of May; but there is a variation in the dates of its arrival of 
about twenty days; and the average temperature when it arrives is 9°-9 Centigr.: thus it arrives 
later and in warmer weather than the Swallow. ‘The earliest date of its arrival is the 18th of 
April, and the latest at the same place (Elsinore) the 12th of May, the difference being twenty- 
four days; at Copenhagen the earliest date is the 26th of April, and the latest the 18th of May ; 
and at Nostved the earliest date is the 5th and the latest the 23rd of May. From the materials 
at my disposal I gather that it arrives in England only about five days earlier than here, but in 
Belgium as much as twenty-one days earlier.” Mr. Labouchere informs me that it arrives in 
Holland about the middle of April and leaves again in October, being generally distributed 
throughout the country and as common as the Swallow during the summer; and Baron de 
Selys-Longchamps, who speaks of it as being common in Belgium, says that it arrives there in 
April and leaves in September. Throughout France it is a common summer resident; and 
Messrs. Degland and Gerbe say that in mild winters some remain at Lille as late as the 15th of 
December. In Portugal it is stated by Professor Barboza du Bocage to be common; and Colonel 
Irby says that it is numerous during the summer in Spain, the first being seen near Gibraltar in 
the spring on the 5th of February. 
Passing eastward, again, I find it recorded by Bailly as abundant in Savoy, arriving from 
the 8th to the 10th of April; and in Italy it is stated by Salvadori to be numerous during the 
summer. In Sicily, according to Doderlein, it is local, being very rare at Palermo and Termini, 
and very numerous along the southern coast. Many remain in the island throughout the winter ; 
and of the later arrivals some breed; but the majority pass over on their migrations. Mr. A. B. 
Brooke states (Ibis, 1873, p. 237) that he first observed it in Sardinia on the 27th of March, and 
adds that it breeds very commonly on that island; and Mr. C. A. Wright says that at Malta it 
is quite as common as the Swallow, and is seen at the same seasons as that species. Lord 
Lilford found it common in Epirus. Both Lindermayer and Von der Miuhle state that it abounds 
in Greece; and the latter adds that it is the commonest Swallow found there. Lindermayer 
states that it arrives in great numbers early in March, breeds twice in the season, and leaves 
again about the middle of September, some few stragglers remaining till the end of October. 
Elsewhere in Southern Europe it is a common species during the summer season; but I have no 
record of its remaining during winter. In Asia Minor it is a numerous summer resident, arriving, 
according to Dr. Kriiper, at Smyrna from the 29th of February and the 11th of March; and he 
adds that large colonies breed in the cliffs in Asia Minor. Canon Tristram, who met with it in 
Palestine, says that it was the last of the Swallow tribe to return to that country. It reappeared, 
he writes, in small numbers about the dth of April, and breeds in colonies on the sheltered faces 
of cliffs in the valleys of Northern Galilee. Mr. C. W. Wyatt says (Ibis, 1870, p. 12) that he 
met with a few Martins at Wady Wisset, in the Sinaitic peninsula, on the 16th of March, but, 
2D 
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