NATURAL HISTORY OF SELBORNE. 157 
LB bl a i 
TO THE SAME. 
SELBORNE, Wov. 20th, 1773- 
DEAR SIR,—In obedience to your injunctions I sit down to give 
you some account of the house-martin, or martlet; and if my 
monography of this little domestic and familiar bird should 
happen to meet with your approbation, I may probably soon 
extend my inquiries to the rest of the British hirundines—the 
swallow, the swift, and the bank-martin. 
A few house-martins begin to appear about the 16th of April; 
usually some few days later than the swallow. For some time after 
they appear the hirundines in general pay no attention to the 
business of nidification, but play and sport about, either to recruit 
from the fatigue of their journey, if they do migrate at all, or else 
that their blood may recover its true tone and texture after it has 
been so long benumbed by the severities of winter. About the 
middle of May, if the weather be fine, the martin begins to think 
in earnest of providing a mansion for its family. The crust or 
shell of this nest seems to be formed of such dirt or loam as 
comes most readily to hand, and is tempered and wrought together 
with little bits of broken straws to render it tough and tenacious. 
As this bird often builds against a perpendicular wall without any 
projecting ledge under, it requires its utmost efforts to get the first 
foundation firmly fixed, so that it may safely carry the superstructure. 
On this occasion the bird not only clings with its claws, but partly 
supports itself by strongly inclining its tail against the wall, 
making that a fulcrum; and thus steadied, it works and plasters 
the materials into the face of the brick or stone. But then, that 
this work may not, while it is soft and green, pull itself down 
by its own weight, the provident architect has prudence and 
forbearance enough not to advance her work too fast; but by 
building only in the morning, and by dedicating the rest of the 
day to food and amusement, gives it sufficient time to dry and 
harden. About half an inch seems to be a sufficient layer for a 
day. Thus careful workmen, when they build mud-walls (informed 
