76 
Writing to me again, under date of June 11th, Mr. Cook says: — 
“ Since I wrote I have seen no further specimens, but note a paragraph in the ‘ ICaikoura 
Star ’ newspaper, stating that two Swallows had been seen at Kaikoura about the same time as the 
birds appeared here. 
“ I have since seen Mr. Cheeseman, who shot the specimen I sent. He tells me there were some 
six or seven birds in all ; that they had been hanging about Grovetown for some weeks before he 
shot the one ; and that he fancied they were young birds, or, at least, that some of them were. He 
could not, however, say that the party consisted of a pair of old birds with their brood The 
one interesting question possibly may be why the first notice of occurrence of the Swallow is on our 
east coast. If the ‘ drift ’ (from Australia or Tasmania) is to and through Cook Straits, I can 
understand it. Otherwise we should expect notice of arrivals on the west coasts of both islands.” 
Commenting on the fact that this bird appears in our country only at long intervals and as a stray 
migrant from a warmer clime, he makes the following very pertinent remarks : — “ Is our New-Zealand 
winter too rigorous for this family of birds 1 I scarcely fancy so. Even here there are few winter 
days when an occasional blink of sunshine does not fetch out dancing myriads of Ephemeridce on the 
river-banks. In olden days I fancy this was not so much the case. The rapid growth of willows 
now overhanging the water must afford protection to delicate new-born insects such as mosquito and 
other gnats which the old fringe of flax and toetoe never could have given. The temperature of the 
water in which the larvae reach their fullest development is scarcely affected by the season. Indeed, 
in many snow-fed rivers the temperature, far from the source, when the water is at its lowest, must 
often be higher in winter than in summer, when the melting snows are in full swing and the river 
body too great to be affected materially by sun-heat. I hope you will agree with me that the natural 
acclimatization of the Australian Swallow is not impossible.” 
Mr. J. D. Enys states that he observed this Swallow skimming over the Avon, near Christchurch, 
in the year 1861 (Journ. of Science, ii. p. 274). 
On another occasion (as reported in the ‘ Otago Daily News ’) a flight of five was seen at 
Moeraki, still further south, by Mr. Bills, who was then engaged catching native birds for the 
Acclimatization Society, and got near enough to the Swallows to be sure of their identification. 
There can be no doubt that these occasional visitants are stragglers from the Australian 
continent, and that to reach our country they perform a pilgrimage on the wing of upwards of a 
thousand miles ! 
In its own country it is a migratory species, visiting the southern portions of Australia and 
Tasmania, arriving in August and retiring northwards as autumn advances. 
It visits the towns, in company with the Common Swallow (Hirundo frontalis) ; and I remember 
seeing it comparatively numerous in and about Sydney, during a visit there in August 1871. 
Mr. A. 11. Wallace brought specimens from the Aru Islands ; so also did the £ Challenger ’ 
Expedition ; and it is likewise recorded from New Guinea, New Britain, and the Ke Islands. 
According to Gould it breeds during the month of October, nesting in the holes of trees, and 
depositing its eggs (three to five in number) on the soft, pulverized wood. The eggs are pinky white, 
freckled at the larger end with five spots of light reddish brown, and measure eight lines in length 
by six in breadth. 
