. A history of British birds : the figures engraved on wood . serves to confirm the idea that thegreater part of them quit this island in search of warmerclimates. ** As the summer declines, the congregatingflocks increase in numbers daily, by the constant acces-sion of the second broods, till at last they swarm in my-riads round the villages on the Thames, darkening theface of the sky as they frequent the islets of that river,where they roost. They reHre in vast flocks together,about the beginning of October. He adds, thatthey appeared of late years in considerable numbers, inthe neighbourhoo
. A history of British birds : the figures engraved on wood . serves to confirm the idea that thegreater part of them quit this island in search of warmerclimates. ** As the summer declines, the congregatingflocks increase in numbers daily, by the constant acces-sion of the second broods, till at last they swarm in my-riads round the villages on the Thames, darkening theface of the sky as they frequent the islets of that river,where they roost. They reHre in vast flocks together,about the beginning of October. He adds, thatthey appeared of late years in considerable numbers, inthe neighbourhood of Selborne, for one day or two, aslate as November the 3d and 6th, after they were sup-posed to have been gone for more than a concludes with this observation :— Unless thesebirds are very short-lived indeed, or unless they do notreturn to the district where they have been bred, theymust undergo vast devastations somehow and some-where ; for the birds that return yearly bear no mannerof proportion to those that retire. -BRITISH BIRDS. 263. THE SWIFT. BLACK MARTIN, DEVILING, OR SCREAMER.{^Hlrundo apus, Lin.—Le Martinet noir, BufF.) Length nearly eight inches. Bill black ; eyes hazel;its general colour is that of a sooty black, with greenishrefledtions; the throat is white *, the wings are long,measuring, from tip to tip, about eighteen inches j thetail is much forked , the legs are of a dark brown colour,and very short; the toes stand two and two on each sideof the foot, and consist of two phalanges or joints only,which is a conformation peculiar to this bird. The fe-male is rather less than the male; her plumage inclinesmore to brown, and the white on the throat is less distindl. The Swift arrives later, and departs sooner than anyof the tribe, from which it is probable that it has a longerjourney to take than the others: it is larger, stronger,and its flight is more rapid than that of any of its kindredtribes, and it has but one brood in the year, so that t
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