154 MAETIN^. 



to me by Mr. G-eorge B. Clarke, of Woburn, Bedfordshire, 

 has been recorded in 'The Naturahst,' vol. i., pages 23-24: — 

 'In the summer of 1849, a pair of Martins built their nest in 

 an archway at the stables of Woburn Abbey, Beds., and as 

 soon as they had completed building it, and had lined it, 

 a Sparrow took possession of it, and although the Martins 

 tried several times to eject him, they were unsuccessful; but 

 they, nothing daunted, leaving him in full possession, flew 

 off to scour the neighbourhood for help, and returned in a 

 short space of time with about thirt}^ or forty Martins, who 

 dragged the unfortunate culprit out, took him to the grass- 

 plot opposite, called 'the circle,' and there all fell on him, 

 and killed him. This was related to me by an eye-witness, 

 a day or two after the occurrence took place.' 



So also, in the 'Zoologist,' page 2605, Mr. J. J. Briggs 

 relates, 'In the year 1816, a pair of House Martins built 

 their nest beneath one of the windows of our house, and had 

 just made it ready for the reception of eggs, when two 

 Sparrows took possession of it, and defied all the efforts of 

 the rightful owners to force them out. During the absence 

 of the Sparrows one day, the Swallows blocked up the entrance, 

 and finally built another nest over it, and so excluded the 

 usurpers.' Also, 'in 1836, I was an eye-witness to an inter- 

 esting circumstance, which illustrated the natural affection of 

 this bird. During the third week in October, a pair of Martins 

 built a nest underneath the battlements of one of the public 

 buildino's in Derby, in a warm and sheltered situation. At 

 the end of the month, the main body of Martins departed, 

 leaving this pair behind, which continued in the neighbour- 

 hood until the extraordinarily late period of November 27th., 

 when the young being fledged, left the nest, and they and 

 their parents disappeared together. This appeared to me 

 extraordinary, as I have known more than one instance in 

 which the old birds have forsaken their offspring to obey the 

 migratory impulse: sometimes, if a nest is examined immedi- 

 ately after the departm'e of a pair of these birds, the young 

 will be found half-fledged, and evidently having died from 

 starvation, occasioned by the parents abondoning them.' 



The flight of the Martin is powerful and rapid, but often 

 wavering and unsteady. 



Its food consists of insects. 



Its note is a lively twitter, often elevated, especially early 

 in the morning, into an extremely pleasing warble. 



