SA^D-MAIITIXS. IS') 



tion of this little bird, since it isfera naticrd, at least in this 

 part of tlie kingdom, disclaiming all domestic attachments, 

 and haunting wild licaths and commons where there are large 

 lakes ; while the other species, especially the swallow and 

 house-martin, are remarkably gentle and domesticated, and 

 never seem to think themselves safe but under the protection 

 of man. 



Here are in this parish, in the sand-pits and banks of the 

 lake of Wolmer Forest, several colonies of these birds; and yet 

 they are never seen in tlie village, nor do they at all frequent 

 the cottages that are scattered about in that wild district. 

 The only instance I ever remember where this species 

 haunts any building, is at the tov^Ti of Bishop's "VYaltham, in 

 this county, where many sand-martms nestle and breed in 

 the scaffold holes of the back wall of William of AVykeham'^ 

 stables ; but then this wall stands in a very sequestered and 

 retired enclosui^e, and faces upon a large and beautiful lake. 

 And, indeed, this species seems so to delight in large waters, 

 that no instance occurs of their abounding but near vast 

 pools or rivers ; and, in particular, it has been remarked that 

 they swarm in the banks of the Thames, in some places 

 below London Bridge. 



It is cui'ious to observe with what different degrees of 

 architectonic skdl Providence has endowed birds of the same 

 genus, and so nearly correspondent in their general mode of 

 life ; for, while the swallow and the house-martin discover 

 the greatest address in raising and secui^ely fixing crusts or 

 shells of loam, as cunabula for their young, the bank-martin 

 terebrates a round and regular hole in the sand or earth, 

 which is serpentine, horizontal, and about two feet deep. At 

 the inner end of this buri'ow does this bird deposit, in a good 

 degree of safety, her rude nest, consisting of fine grasses 

 and feathers, usually goose feathers, very inartificiaUy laid 

 together.* 



Perseverance wiU accomplish anything : though at first 



* M. Eugene Robert communicated to the Academy of Sciences at Paris a 

 curious observation tliat he had made in the case of some nests of the sand- 

 marrir;, whicli he had an opportunity of examining. He noticed that they 

 were lined or plastered over with a sort of matter, which he believed to be the 

 spawn of fish, and which helped to prevent the sand from falling down intt 

 the nest. — W. Jenynb. 



