54 Proceedings of the 



ings, remarks, — " Yesterday (Dec. 6) there were several chimney swallows 

 flying about my house ; the previous night there had been a sprinkling 

 of snow in the adjoining country. On the 23d of November,. I left the 

 neighbourhood of Uckfield, in Sussex, and at that time there were several 

 house martins skimming about in front of the house though the weather 

 was anything but warm." Another ornithologist writes from Penzance on 

 the 1st of December. — " I observed up to Wednesday last, in this dis- 

 trict, extending as far as Helston, flocks of house martins flying about, 

 and hawking vigorously for insects." In previous years, both species 

 have occurred in England quite as late, and in some instances later, than 

 the cases I have now cited ; but it is rarely they are seen so late in Scot- 

 land. In 1842, on the 9th December, one martin was seen in Devonshire. 

 In 1843, so late as the 10th of the same month, a swallow (H. rustica) 

 was shot in the West Riding of Yorkshire. This was an adult bird, in 

 full plumage, and in good condition, which rather militates against the 

 opinion that they are always young birds, or weakly individuals, that re- 

 main behind. In 1846, on the 18th of November, from fifteen to twenty 

 martins were seen in Warwickshire. In 1848, one martin was shot on the 

 coast of Suffolk. This was apparently a young bird ; and on the 8th of 

 the same month three others were observed at Deal, hawking under the 

 cliff. Perhaps the most singular record of all, however, is that of the oc- 

 currence, on the afternoon of January 18, 1837, on New Miller Dam, 

 near Wakefield, of three swallows, hawking and dipping as in the midst 

 of summer. The day is stated to have been " very mild and still." To 

 complete the list, the Revs. Andrew and Henry Matthews, in their ac- 

 count of the birds of Oxfordshire, record the appearance of one swallow 

 on the 28th of February 1846, and of three more on the following day. 

 We have thus the recorded occurrence of swallows during the whole of the 

 winter months ; and it becomes a curious and difficult question to decide 

 whether or not any of these may have been instances of re-animated hy- 

 bernation. At all events, the facts went very far to prove that swallows 

 could occasionally remain in this country through the winter. 



2. Notice of the Arctic Skua (Lestris Parasitica, Tern.), shot in Skye 

 in the Summer of 1855. By Peter A. Dassauville, Esq. 



The specimen on the table was procured in Skye by John Richardson, 

 Esq., Pencaitland. It appeared to be in the adult summer plumage. 

 The two centre tail feathers gradually tapered to a point, and exceeded 

 the others by eight inches. The season at which this specimen was taken 

 was not a little remarkable, as it was not known to breed even on our most 

 northern stations, and in the sparing notices of its occurrence it had ap- 

 peared in the autumn or winter. 



