INSESSORES. 125 



is astonishing. By July 24th a pair of Martins 

 had completed a nest under our eaves, and hatched, 

 for the second time, two young. On that day, 

 through the thoughtlessness of a servant, the nest 

 was knocked down, wdien it was found to contain an 

 addled egg and two young birds, which were killed 

 by the fall. The following day the old birds com- 

 menced to rebuild, and by the 29th, five days later, 

 a new nest was finished, and subsequently a new 

 brood was hatched. 



Sand Martin, Hirundo riparia. Another of our 

 visitants, and generally the first of the genus Hi- 

 rundo to arrive. In some seasons they are numerous, 

 but although they may be seen almost every day 

 during summer at our reservoirs, they do not breed 

 there, the banks being too shallow and sloping to 

 admit of excavation. 



This species breeds in some chalk-pits at Pinner, 

 and at Hampstead, on the property of Lord Mans- 

 field, where an old sand-bank is completely riddled 

 with their holes. In June, 1863, some eggs were 

 taken by a friend from some holes in a pit-bank on 

 Hampstead Heath. The Sand Martin may also be 

 found breeding in many places along the banks of 

 the Thames. Mr. Gould, in his beautiful folio work 

 on British Birds, now in the course of publication, 

 says : "A nest taken from the bank of the Thames 

 on the 4th of July, 1854, was composed of a layer of 

 grasses, above which was a second layer of the Swan's 



M 3 



