LITTORAL RAND) BIRDS. 271 
stones or clods of earth, or wedged into crevices 
of the rocks and cliffs. It is made of dry grass, 
moss, scraps of dry seaweed, and lined either with 
horsehair or fine grass, The four or five eggs are 
dull bluish-white in ground colour, freckled with 
grayish or reddish-brown, and sometimes streaked 
with blackish-brown. Two broods are often reared 
in the season, the eggs for the latter being laid in 
July. Many pairs of birds may be found nesting 
on a short stretch of coast, but no gregarious 
instincts are manifested at this season. The Rock 
Pipit has a very restricted geographical distribution, 
being confined to the European coasts of the 
Atlantic, including our islands and the Fardées. 
MARTINS. 
Both the species of British Martins resort to 
many localities on the coast to breed. To the 
wall-like cliffs the House Martin, Cheltdon urbica, 
often attaches its mud-built cradle. I know of 
large colonies of this Martin on the sea cliffs of 
Devonshire, where the nests are placed in rows, or 
stuck here and there in every sheltered niche. In 
the same manner the Sand Martin, Cotyle riparza, 
bores its tunnels into the soft earth at the summit 
of the sea cliffs, or into the solid banks of earth 
that in some districts take the place of cliffs. It is 
not necessary to enter here into details of the 
economy of these Martins. Both engaging little 
species add to the life and animation of the coast, 
