Birds. 77 



and martins assembled in large flocks about the last week in Sep- 

 tember, and to all appearance left us on the 5th of October : I did not 

 see a swallow or martin during the remainder of October, but on the 

 4th of November we were visited by a large flock of swallows {Hirun- 

 do rustica) and martins [H. urhica) ; the thermometer was at about 

 38° in the morning when I first saw them, and at about 48° during 

 the hottest part of the day, the wind at N.E. ; on the 3rd it blew very 

 strong from the S.S.E. They remained with us until the 16th of No- 

 vember, not frequenting their usual haunts, but keeping more about 

 the town ; the weather was exceedingly mild during their stay, the 

 thermometer being seldom below 50°. On the 17th of November the 

 wind was N.N.E., and the thermometer at 38°. On the 22nd there 

 were a few stragglers to be seen, mostly swallows ; on the 28th I saw 

 one swallow flying over the houses of the town ; on December the 4th 

 I saw three or four swallows flying about the houses, and on the 7th 

 of December there was one swallow flying up and down the same 

 street for about half an hour, but I could neither see nor hear of ano- 

 ther anywhere. This was the last appearance for the year that has 

 come under my notice. I think there can be no doubt that the pro- 

 tracted stay of the swallows was induced by the exceeding mildness 

 of the season, but it seems a curious fact that they should have re- 

 turned to us with a gale of southerly wind, and then leaving us with 

 the first northerly wind, after remaining twelve days. Perhaps it may 

 not be amiss to state that this is not a favourable locality for sand- 

 martins. — James J, Trathan ; Falmouth, January 28, 1843. 



Note on the late departure of the Swallow in 1842. It struck me 

 as worthy of notice that during last summer I scarcely saw a swallow 

 in the vicinity of London ; in the month of September I occasionally 

 observed one or two ; in October they were more numerous, and dur- 

 ing the week ending October 22nd, they were quite abundant, even in 

 the most crowded and noisy thoroughfares, and I observed them con- 

 tinually passing the window of the printing-office in Ratcliff* High- 

 way. In November I repeatedly saw three or four in the neighbour- 

 hood of Camberwell and Peckham ; and I learn from a gardener in 

 the employ of Mr. Bevington, of Camberwell Terrace, that during the 

 last week in November he saw a great number of swallows flying over. 

 — Edward Newman ; Peckham, January, 1843. 



Note on the late departure of the Swift in 1842. When returning 

 from shooting on the salt marshes at Salthouse, near Cley, on the 

 north coast of Norfolk, on the 25th of September, I saw three young 

 swifts playing around some sand-hills, in company with a large flock 



