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August. In 1863 one was seen as late as the 8th September. In Finland it is common in the 

 summer, and is, Mr. Sabanaeff informs me, common in Central Russia, and is found on the 

 eastern slope of the Ural chain, as far north as Bogosloffsk, but does not occur on the Shadrinsk 

 plains. 



Throughout Germany, Denmark, Holland, Belgium, and Europe generally it may be said 

 to be common during about four months in the year, or rather less, as it arrives in May and 

 leaves in August. Gloger says that it is also found in the mountains of North Germany as well 

 as on the plains. I found it common in most parts of Germany I have visited, and observed 

 many at Altenkirchen, near the Rhine, where, Mr. Carl Sachse informs me, it arrives early in 

 May and leaves in August. In 1874 the first were seen on the 2nd May. Occasionally it nests 

 in trees ; and before the female commences incubation both male and female roost together in a 

 hole used by them for night quarters. It is found in Holland, as elsewhere, breeding in the 

 church-towers ; and Baron von Droste Hiilshoff says that it breeds in the lighthouse on the 

 Island of Borkum. As before stated it is common throughout France ; and Dr. E. Rey found it 

 equally numerous in Portugal, where the first arrive about the middle of April. The various 

 authors on Spanish ornithology speak of it as being a common summer visitant to Spain ; and 

 Colonel Irby informs me that he saw the first at Gibraltar about the 26 th March, and the latest 

 date in the autumn when he observed any was the 6th October. Herr von Homeyer found them 

 passing through the Balearic Islands, on their migration northward, from the 15th April to the 

 7th May, and says that large flocks passed, remaining to rest for a few days only. Some few 

 remain to breed, nesting in the high buildings and in the cliffs. Mr. C. A. Wright says (Ibis, 

 1864, p. 58) that in Malta it "commences arriving from the south in March and April, and 

 remains with us till August, breeding in the precipitous rocks and caverns on the coast and in 

 the walls of the fortifications. Repasses in September. In spring and summer it is plentifully 

 distributed all over the island, but disappears as autumn advances." In Italy and Sicily it is 

 common during the summer, and some few remain all the winter near Catania — a fact which has 

 not been observed elsewhere. In Greece, according to Lindermayer, it arrives late in March, 

 and at first frequents damp low localities, but soon takes up its quarters in the interior, where it 

 breeds in the mountains and also in the cliffs on the sea-coast. On the islands it is, he says, a 

 resident. Lord Lilford met with it in Corfu in summer, and says (Ibis, 1860, p. 234) that it is 

 rarer than Cypselus melba. In Southern Germany it is found during the summer, according to 

 Dr. A. Fritsch (J. f. O. 1871, p. 187), arriving in Bohemia about the middle of May, and leaving 

 in August; and the Ritter von Tschusi-Schmidhofen informs me that it is nowhere rare in 

 Bohemia, and he saw them sailing above the highest summits of the Riesengebirge, and observed 

 it also in the middle of the Bohmerwald, where it breeds in the hollow beech-trees. It likewise 

 occurs in all the other provinces of South Germany, and breeds either in the towns or in hollow 

 trees; but in some localities it does not occur during the breeding-season. In Turkey it is 

 common ; and Von Nordmann speaks of it as being numerous in Southern Russia. Near Odessa, 

 he says, a large colony nest in company with Bee-eaters. Dr. G. Radde (J. f. O. 1854, p. 59) 

 says it is especially abundant on the steppes, and he saw thousands near the fortress at Perekop ; 

 and Eversmann (J. f. O. 1853, p. 290) found it common in rocky localities in the Southern Ural. 

 Menetries found it at Lenkoran ; and it is said to be common in Asia Minor. Canon Tristram 



