NESTING OF THE HOUSE MAETIN. 



149 



the wrath of the gardener. This substance is evidently well moistened and kneaded 

 before it is applied, and it is very probable that the bird may supply some viscid secretion 

 which renders it more tenacious. The exterior of the nest is very rough, but has a 

 picturesque ai^pearance by reason of that very roughness. 



When once they have attached themselves to any locality, the Martins are thorough 

 conservatives in their feelings, and set their faces against any alteration or improvement. 

 One of my friends, on finding that these little birds were beginning to build their nests 

 under the eaves of his house, was desirous of attracting them to his residence and 

 affording them the best hospitality in his power. He therefore ordered a kind of verandah 

 to be erected along the side of the house, so that the Martins might find a better shelter 

 than was afforded by the shallow eaves. The birds, however, took a different view of 

 the matter ; deserted the nests which had already been built, and never came back 

 again. 



In all cases the Martins exhibit a strong dislike to smooth walls. Stucco they detest, 

 and only tolerate new brick when they can find no other resting-place. But their chief 

 delight is in walls that are covered with rough cast, or that are built of roughened stone. 

 They also take advantage of any 

 projection, such as a spout or a 

 piece of sculpture, and employ it 

 as a foundation on which they 

 may rest their domiciles. 



Not only is the Martin capri- 

 cious in choosing certain points 

 of the compass, but also in fixing 

 upon a locality wherein to build 

 its habitation, it exhibits no small 

 fancifulness. Generally it affects 

 human dwellings, and rests safely 

 under the protection of their in- 

 mates ; but it will often fly far 

 from the presence of man, and 

 build its nest in uninhabited 

 spots. Precipitous rocks of various 

 kinds, whether limestone, sand- 

 stone, or chalk, are frequently 

 studded with the nests of the 

 Martin. The basaltic rocks of 

 the Giant's Causeway are in great 

 favour with this bird, wliich has 

 even been known to plant its 

 nests thickly in the arches of a 

 bridge. 



In Northern Europe the Martin is held in very high estimation, as it seems to keep 

 down the numbers of the mosquito and those winged pests which swarm in those cold 

 regions as profusely as under a tropical sky, and use their poisoned weapons with quite as 

 much severity. Its presence is therefore courted, and the inhabitants strive to attract 

 the Martins to themselves by preparing certain attractive boxes, in which they are able to 

 build their nests without expending a tithe of the labour that is requii'ed for fixing a nest 

 upon a perpendicular wall. 



In this place it may be as well to mention the well-known assertion that a spaiTOW 

 which had usurped the nest of a Martin, and refused to relinquish his ill-gotten home, 

 was summarily punished by the entire efforts of the society, who gathered a large supply 

 of clay, and fairly immured him in a prison and a tomb. This story appears to be very 

 improbable, because it would seem that a veiy few blows of a sparrow's beak would break 

 through the frail walls of a Martin's nest, and release the prisoner. But in ]\Ir. Thompson's 

 work on the Birds of Ireland, the strange tale is confirmed in the following passage : — 



HOUSE MARTIN.— CTeJWoii ihUca. 



