ALPINE SWIFT. 185 



INSESSORES. 



FJSSIROSTRES. HIRUNDINID.'E. 



PLATE XXXVII. 



ALPINE SWIFT. 

 Cypselus Alpinus. 



We have the authority of naturalists of the present day 

 to include the Alpine Swift among British birds, as it has 

 been met with in three or four instances in this country ; 

 and our drawing, although not made from a British killed 

 specimen, is the representation of a very handsome bird that 

 was obligingly lent to us for the use of our work. 



The winter retreat of the Alpine Swift is in the warmer 

 climates of the globe, particularly Africa ; during summer 

 it visits the south of Europe, frequenting chiefly elevated 

 parts, such as the rock of Gibraltar, the island of Malta, and 

 some spots on the coast of the Mediterranean ; inland, the 

 southern Alps are its chief haunts during that period. 

 Switzerland, Savoy, and the Tyrol, are, it seems, the most 

 northern parts of Europe in which these birds are found 

 in numbers, although a few penetrate still further. Under 

 what circumstances the Alpine Swift has found its way to 

 our shores, where it can only be looked upon as a very 

 rare straggler, it is not difficult to imagine ; probably a con- 

 tinuance of unusually warm weather has induced them to 

 follow, as we have suggested in a former instance, a swarm 

 of insects that were carried by some current of air before 

 them. 



VOL. I. O 



