MARTIN 537 



between them, the Martin's white rump and lower parts being con- 

 spicuous as it flies or clings to its " loved mansionry " attached to 

 our houses, for, as Shakespear wrote — 



" No jutty, frieze, 

 Buttress, nor coign of vantage, but this bird 

 Hath made his pendent bed and procreant cradle." 



Macbeth, Act i. sc. 6. 



This nest, made of the same material as the Swallow's, is, however, 

 a far more difficult sti-ucture to rear, and a week or more is often 

 occupied in laying its foundations — the builders clinging to the wall 

 while depositing the mud of which it is composed. But, the base 

 once securely fixed, the superstructure is often quickly added till 

 the whole takes the shape of the half or quarter of a hemisphere, 

 and a lining of soft feathers, mixed with a few bents or straws, fits 

 it for its purpose. The Martin sets about building very soon after 

 its return, and a nest that has outlasted the winter's storms is 

 almost at once reoccupied ; though if a new nest be needed its 

 construction often involves great delay, for any excess of wet or 

 drought retards the operation, and the work is often placed in such 

 an exposed situation that heavy driving rains will wash away the 

 half-dried walls. However, the bird mostly perseveres against 

 these and other untowardnesses, contriving in the course of the 

 summer to raise a second or even, though rarely, a third brood of 

 offspring — but it is certain that the latest broods often die in the 

 nest — apparently through failure of food. Yet examples of this 

 species are observed in England every year so late as November, 

 and there are several instances of their appearance within a few 

 days of the Avinter solstice ; but it is to be remarked that these late 

 birds are almost certainly strangers, and not natives of the locality 

 in which they are seen.^ 



The Sand-Martin, Hirundo riparia of Linnaeus and Cotile riparia 

 of modern writers, differs much in appearance and habits from the 

 former. Its smaller size, mouse-coloured upper surface, and jerking 

 flight ought to render it easily recognizable from the other British 

 Hirundinidss ; but through carelessness it is seldom discriminated, 

 and, being the first of the Family to return to its northern home, the 

 " early Swallow " of newspaper- writers would seem to be nearly always 

 of this species. Instead of using a clay-built nest like the House- 

 Martin, this bird bores, with a degree of regularity and an amount 



^ This is inferred from their not shewing themselves until some time after 

 the departure of the regular inhabitants. Prof. Giglioli has recorded the ap- 

 jDearance of C. cashmirensis in Italy {Avif. Ital. p. 187), though Count T. Sal- 

 vador! (Uccell. Ital. p. 81) has expressed his doubt as to the determination of 

 the specimen. It behoves all ornithologists to examine very critically examples 

 of Martins obtained in Europe late in the year. 



