l6o SAND-MARTIN. 



winter it visits Mexico, Central /Vmerica and the valley of the 

 Amazon ; and — in the Old World — China, the Indian region, and 

 South-eastern Africa down to Zanzibar. Occasionally it wanders to 

 the Canary Islands. 



The nest is generally made in banks — whether natural, such 

 as earth-cliffs by the sides of rivers and lakes, or artificial, such 

 as railway-cuttings, sandpits and gravel quarries — or even in 

 huge heaps of half-rotten sawdust. In such situations galleries 

 slanting slightly upwards are bored, and, in a somewhat wider 

 chamber at the end, the nest is formed of a little dry grass with an 

 abundance of feathers. The eggs, usually 4-6, are pure white : 

 average measurements 7 by "48 in. In some parts of Norway the 

 Sand-Martin> burrows into the turf-covered roofs of the peasants' 

 houses, and in this country holes in old walls are not unfrequently 

 utilized. Small colonies are often ousted by the overbearing House- 

 Sparrow, but where large numbers congregate, they are able to defy 

 intruders. Two broods are generally produced in the season, and 

 after leaving their flea-haunted nest, the young betake themselves to 

 the vicinity of water, where they feed all day upon the abundance of 

 insects produced in such localities, and roost at night in large 

 numbers in the reed-beds and plantations. Gnats and other insects 

 form the food of this species. The male has a low twittering song, 

 but the alarm-note is rather harsh. . 



The adult male is hair-brown above, slightly darker on the crown 

 and lighter on the rump ; wings and tail blackish-brown ; under 

 parts white, except a mottled brown pectoral band ; bill black ; legs 

 dark brown, with a tuft of pale buff-coloured feathers above the hind 

 toe. Length 4*8 ; wing 4 in. The female has a rather narrower 

 band across the throat. The young bird, shown in the upper figure 

 of the woodcut, has the feathers of the upper parts tipped with dull 

 white, and the under parts tinged with buff. 



In the rocky gorges and mountainous regions of Central and 

 Southern Europe many of my readers may have noticed a rather 

 larger bird, resembling our Sand-Martin in the colour of its upper 

 parts, but displaying white spots on its outspread tail. This is the 

 Crag-Martin, Cbtile nipcstris, a bird which has not yet been found 

 in the British Islands, but which may possibly stray to our shores, 

 as it breeds regularly no further off than Switzerland. This species 

 has not the small tuft of feathers on the tarsus, and its eggs are 

 spotted, like those of the Swallow. 



