PROCEEDINGS—PERTHSHIRE SOCIETY OF NATURAL SCIENCE, xlix 
nearly attaining his object he was swept down again. Like others of 
his species, he is very wary, and keeps a sharp look-out for the stones 
which, I am sorry to say, are sometimes thrown at him. Though he 
has hitherto escaped injury, such may not always be the case, and 
I hop - that the inhabitants of Perth will give protection to an inter¬ 
esting bird w T ho has sought their hospitality. 
Swallow.— The arrival of the Sw r allow is a very general object of 
interest, and is frequently chronicled in the newspaper. Casual 
observers, however, do not distinguish between the three kinds of 
sw T allows which visit us, and, like the primrose to the well-known 
Mr. Bell, any kind of a swallow is the Swallow. The three kinds, 
how r ever, arrive at rather different periods, and ought to be dis¬ 
tinguished. The first to arrive is the Sand Martin, which may be 
knowrn by its brownish-black plumage and squarish tail; the next is 
the House Martin, easily recognised by the white patch on its back; 
and the last is the true, or Chimney Swallow, with glossy purple-black 
plumage and conspicuously forked tail. 
Some true Sw 7 allow r s nest in my garden, and for some years I have 
kept a note of the day on which they have been first observed. From 
1879 to 1887 the dates were May 4, May 20 (?), May 6, April 23, 
April 28, May 6, April 28, May 6, May 5, and this year May 5. 
These dates do not represent, of course, the earliest arrivals in the 
district. 
Swift.— The Swift—at one time supposed to belong to the same 
family as the Sw 7 allow, but now 7 placed in a different position—is 
another of our summer visitors, whose time of arrival is of interest. 
I have noted for some years the day on which I have first seen them 
at the bridge. Since, however, they are not always flying about, it is 
possible that they may sometimes arrive a day or tw r o before I see 
them. The dates from 1878 to 1887 are as follows:—May 3, 
May 14, May 14, May 8, May 7, May 12, May 6, May 1, May 4, 
May 4, and this year May 5. 
I may take this opportunity of mentioning that the nest and eggs 
of the Swift are much required for the Perthshire collection in the 
Museum. 
Power of Plants to resist Drought.— A few 7 years ago I put 
the seeds of tw r o plants —Erinus alpinus and Corydalis lutea —on 
a wall which faces the south, and w’hich is too dry to support even 
mosses, except a few T tufts of Tortirta muralis. The seeds w r ere sown 
in winter, and germinated in early spring. The following summer 
(1887) was, as you know 7 , for sometime, at least, very hot and dry, no 
rain falling for several w r eeks. Noth withstanding this the plants did 
well, and the Erinus flowered. Now 7 the Erinus is a small plant, 
with small roots and no reserve of moisture, and in its native habitat 
in the mountains is accustomed to abundance of damp, and the fact 
of its doing w r ell in such a situation as the w 7 all in question is rather 
remarkable. On damp mossy walls it grows readily, but on this one 
it was not only baked in the sun, but got no water at all for many 
weeks. The Corydalis is more succulent, and hence it does not 
afford so marked a case as the Erinus. 
Sedum Album. —Some plants of the White Stone-crop (Sedum 
