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summer, and in the countries bordering the Mediterranean it is especially abundant at the periods of migration in spring and autumn. Mr. Wright has observed it arriving in Malta in great numbers from the south early in March, and again, on its return southwards in autumn, it is common over the island until October. On the island of Filfla, a few miles south of Malta, the same observer has noticed it in May. At Gibraltar and in Spain Mr. Howard Saunders has detected it as early as February, making its way north; and, as an instance of how these delicate birds at times get blown out of their course by adverse winds, it may be remarked that Prince Charles Bonaparte saw Swallows and Martins at sea 500 miles from Portugal and 400 miles off the coast of Africa. Sir William Jardine has recorded the presence of the Swallow at Madeira, and Mr. Osbert Salvin, writing on May 28 ("Ibis," 1859, p. 334), says: "Some Swallows came on board when we were 180 miles north-west of the Azores, so that it is probable that the bird is found in these islands."

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On the Senegal River and at Sierra Leone it may be seen all the year round, but is less numerous there from June to September.1 On the West Coast of Africa the Swallow appears to travel as far south as the island of St. Thomas on the equator, where Mr. Yarrell states it has been met with in January and February.

In Tangier and Eastern Morocco Mr. Tyrwhitt Drake says the Swallow is found throughout the year, but the Martin and Sand Martin, he believes, do not winter there. ("Ibis," 1862, p. 425.)

The Swallow has been noticed as plentiful at Tripoli in the middle of March (Chambers, “Ibis,” 1867, p. 99), and Mr. Osbert Salvin observed it in Algeria, between Constantine and Batna, where he found several nests among the rafters of an open shed. According to the Rev. Canon Tristram-than whom there is no better authority on the subject of North African and Palestine birds—a few pairs of Swallows remain all the winter in each oasis in North Africa, wher

1 Tudbury, "Mag. Nat. Hist." vol. v. p. 449.

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ever there is water or marsh; but none of those which he observed were in mature plumage, and it is therefore presumed that only the younger and weaker birds stay behind. Arabs informed him that for one Swallow they have in winter they have twenty in summer, and that they usually retire about the end of November, returning in February. In November, also, they have been observed to be common at Alexandria and Cairo (E. C. Taylor, "Ibis," 1859, p. 47); and on the 5th of November, when leaving Aden, Mr. Swinhoe remarked that a few Swallows followed the ship, apparently bound for the Indian coast. According to the observations of Mr. E. C. Taylor ("Ibis," 1867, p. 57), this species reappears in Egypt about March 25, and is common at Cairo and Damietta in April. Rüppell, in his Systematische Uebersicht der Vögel Nordost-Afrika's," includes the Swallow (p. 22) as being found in Egypt, Nubia, and Abyssinia; and as regards the lastnamed country, Mr. Blanford has remarked'

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1 "Geology and Zoology of Abyssinia," p. 347.

that it is common everywhere, and that he found it especially abundant on the shores of Annesley Bay in June.

Continuing a search for this species southward along the East Coast of Africa, it will be found that, according to the observations of Mr. Ayres in Natal, the Swallow arrives in that colony in great numbers in November, congregating and leaving again in March and April. Mr. Layard found it to be an annual winter visitant to the Cape Colony, and on one occasion when sailing from New Zealand to the Cape of Good Hope, on the 28th of November, he saw a Swallow and a Sand Martin fly about the ship for some time. He was then in lat. 33° 20, long. 31° 50', and about 290 miles from the Cape. Several insects (Libellula, Agrostis, and Geometra) were caught on deck, and we may presume, therefore, that the birds found sufficient food to support them at that distance from land.

Passing eastward through Sinai and Palestine, where Canon Tristram has observed the Swallow

in December,' we learn from Mr. Blyth that it is common in the north-west provinces of India during the winter months. Capt. Beavan saw it at Darjeeling in 1862, and Maunbhoom in 1864-65, where both old and young were very common in January and February, hawking over rice-kates and near tanks. In Northern Japan it was observed by Capt. Blakiston, and in North China by Mr. Swinhoe. Referring to a species of Swallow which he observed in Formosa, Mr. Swinhoe says says ("Ibis," 1863, p. 255): "In its habits, in nest and colour of eggs, &c., this bird entirely agrees with the European H. rustica; yet in size it is always smaller, and in minor personal features different. It ranges in summer from Canton to Pekin, and Mr. Blyth assures me that it is identical with specimens procured in winter in Calcutta ; hence I infer that the birds which visit China in spring, and uniformly leave again in autumn, return to hybernate in the warm plains of India."

1 "The Land of Israel,” p. 105.

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