NATURAL ‘caudal OF duamcehacae I7I 
ee 
Ly IS ign fh <a, 
TO THE SAME. 
SELBORNE, Feb. 26th, 1774. 
DEAR SIR,—The sand-martin, or bank-martin, is by much the 
least of any of the British hirundines, and, as far as we have ever 
seen, the smallest known hirundo, though Brisson asserts that 
there is one much smaller, and that is the Airundo esculenta .* 
But it is much to be regretted that it is scarce possible for any 
observer to be so full and exact as he could wish in reciting the cir- 
cumstances attending the life and conversation of this little bird,. 
ESCULENT SWALLOW. 
since it is fera naturd, at least in this part of the kingdom, dis- 
claiming all domestic attachments, and haunting wild heaths 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. 
* The H. esculenta is very small in body, but has a large extent of wing; it belongs 
more properly to the group of swifts. There are one or two species smaller even than 
that mentioned by Brisson. 
The flea of the sand-martin, mentioned next page, is not the same as the bed-flea, but is. 
the Ces atophyllus bifaciatus of Curtis. 
