THE HOUSE MARTIN 
CHELIDON URBICA 
LocaL names in surrounding counties : 
Status 1N British Avirauna: A common and widely 
distributed summer visitor of almost universal occurrence. 
Rap1iaL DisTRIBUTION WITHIN FIFTEEN MILES OF ST. 
Paut’s : The House Martin seems ever to have shown a 
partiality for the Metropolis. In Gilbert White’s time 
the bird nested in the Borough, in Fleet Street, and in the 
Strand. It has deserted these places now, but within 
recent years nests have been recorded in St. James’s Street, 
Porchester Place, and Upper Seymour Street, the first- 
named being well inside the two-mile radius. ‘There are 
many spots in the central portions of the Metropolitan 
area where the House Martin breeds every year, and it is 
generally dispersed over the more rural suburbs, com- 
monest, of course, in the outlying districts. Small 
Eolonies of this Nae may be seen in some of our busy 
suburban thoroughfares ; at Harlesden, for instance, near 
the High Street, and on some tall buildings opposite the 
police station. "There are also many scattered nests in 
the quieter by- -streets, and the numbers would un- 
questionably increase were it not for the molestation of 
the Sparrows, and the antipathy of householders, who in 
many cases strip down the mud-built home above their 
windows. ‘The House Martin may also occasionally be 
seen hawking over the Thames between bridges, and 
visits the lakes in the urban parks, the canals, and so forth. 
‘The House Martin returns to its summer haunts in 
the south of England about the middle of April, and 
returns to its winter home in September and October. 
With regard to its appearance in Greater London, I have 
invariably remarked that in many localities the birds are 
not seen at their actual nesting-sites for weeks after they 
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