THE CLIFF-SWALLOW. 39 
dilection for the abodes of man, by building against 
the walls of houses, immediately under the eaves of 
the roof, though they have not in the least changed 
their style of architecture. A nest from the latter 
situation is now before me: it is hemispherical, five 
inches wide at its truncated place of attachment to 
the wall, from which it projects six inches, and con-. 
sists exclusively of a mixture of sand and clay, lined 
on the inside with straw and dried grass, negligently 
‘ disposed for the reception of the eggs. The whole 
external surface is roughened by the projection of 
the various little pellets of earth which compose the 
substance. The entrance is near the top, rounded, 
projecting, and turning downward, so that the nest 
may be compared to a chymist’s retort, flattened on 
the side applied to the wall, and with the principal 
part of the neck broken off. So great is the indus- 
try of these interesting little architects, that this 
massive and commodious structure is sometimes 
completed in the course of three days.”* 
White of Selborne thus describes the building 
process of the window-swallow, or martin (Hirundo’ 
urbica). ‘‘ About the middle of May,” he says, ‘‘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 tena- 
cious. As this bird often builds against a perpen- 
dicular 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 super- 
structure. 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 
* Bonaparte, Amer. Ornith., i., 67. 
