4 9 . C hjetuka caud a cu ta .
Spine-tailed Swift.
The solitary example above alluded to was “ shot about 9 p .m . on the 8th o f July, 1846, by a farmer’s
son, near Colchester, in E s s ex ; he saw it first in the evening o f the 6th. He tells me it occasionally flew to
a great height, was principally engaged in hawking for flies over a small wood and neighbouring tr e e s ;
being only wounded, it cried very much as it fell, and, when he took it up, clung so tightly to some clover
as to draw some stalks from the g ro u n d ” (T . Catchpool, jun., in the ‘ Zoologist’ for 1846, p. 1493).
I f Indian, Chinese, and Australian examples are identical, as I believe they are, then the range o f the
present species is wide indeed; but possessing, as it does, vast wing-powers, there is no reason why it should
not pass and repass from one country to another with the greatest ease. Distance being mere child’s play
to a bird so largely endowed with the means o f flight, its accidental occurrence in England need not excite
surprise.
Family IIIUUNDINIDiE.
The members of this great family of air-frequenting birds are almost universally dispersed—so much so a t
least that Swallows and Martins are known to the inhabitants of most parts o f the globe, except those of
New Zealand and Polynesia, where, strange to say, none are to be found.
More than a hundred species are enumerated in our lists, in which large number many variations o f form
exist, each characterized by some peculiarity in habits, mode of life, kind o f food they eat, construction of
nest, or mode o f nidification. Three migratory species, each pertaining to a distinct genus, make our islands
a temporary resting-place during the months o f summer.
Genus H ir u n d o .
The species o f this form, of which our common Swallow is the type, inhabit Europe, India, China, and
North America. They are distinguished for the elegance of their structure and the ease and buoyancy of
their evolutions.
50. H ir u n d o ru st ic a . . . . . . . . . . . . Vol. II. PI. V.
C ommon S wallow .
Comment upon this familiar species is quite unnecessary; we all know it arrives in spring, and, after
bracketing its cup-shaped nest in our chimneys and outhouses, and rearing its progeny upon the insects it
captures in their neighbourhood, departs again in autumn to more southern climes, carrying with it our godspeed
for its welfare until it returns to receive our renewed greeting.
Genus C h e l id o n .
Other species besides the clothed-tarsed one frequenting our island are known; they are mostly from
India, China, and Japan.
51. C h e l id o n urbica . . . . . . • • • • • • Vol. II. PI. VI.
H o use -M a r t in .
This pretty fairy-like bird arrives about the middle o f April, constructs a semiglobular nest of mud under
the eaves of our dwellings, and, after rearing its progeny, departs again in the autumn to the warmer country
o f Africa—where the sun still vivifies an abundance of insect life, and thus furnishes a plentiful supply of
food to these insectivorous birds.
Genus C oty l e .
A very distinct little group are the Sand-Martins, whose habits are peculiar and very different from those
of the Swallow or the House-Martin. They inhabit the Old and the New World.
¡ ■ ¡ ■ ■ ■ I 5 2 . C oty l e ripar ia . . . . • • • . • . • • . • . . Vol. B PI. VII.
S and-M a r t in .
Arrives early in spring, assembles in flocks, breeds in colonies, makes a slight nest in a hole in a sandbank,
and, after rearing its young, departs south on the first chilly days of August or September.
53. C„ o ty l e rHi p Ra r i a .................................................................. Vol. II. PI. VIII.
S and-M ar t in (young)
as seen on the bank o f the Thames, in the month of August, prior to departure south.
Genus P og ne.
54. P rogne pu r pu r ea .
Purple Martin.
A strictly American form, of which four or five examples are said to have been killed in our islands—one
near Dublin, one in Yorkshire, and two at Kingsbury in Middlesex.