SAND MARTIN. 163 



Family HIRUNDINID^). Genus COTYLE. 



SAND MARTIN. 



COTYLE RIPARIA (Linnaus). 

 Double Brooded. Laying season, May and July. 



BRITISH BREEDING AREA : The Sand Martin, if some- 

 what locally, is widely distributed throughout the British 

 Islands, breeding in every part suited to its requirements, 

 including the Outer Hebrides (but not St. Kilda), the 

 Orkneys, and the Shetlands. 



BREEDING HABITS : The Sand Martin is the earliest 

 of the Swallows to arrive in our islands in spring, reach- 

 ing them occasionally at the end of March, and more 

 frequently during the first few days of April. The 

 haunts of the Sand Martin principally depend on the 

 presence of suitable cliffs and banks into which the birds 

 can burrow and make their nests. Wherever such 

 localities soft earth cliffs inland or on the coast, sand- 

 pits, quarries, railway-cuttings and the like are to be 

 found, the Sand Martin is usually present, although, be 

 it remarked, it is somewhat capricious in its choice. 

 The presence of water is preferred, but is not absolutely 

 essential. The Sand Martin pairs for life, and yearly 

 returns to breed in certain spots. It is a gregarious 

 bird, some of its colonies being very extensive. A very 

 noteworthy one is in a sand-cliff just outside Retford 

 Station on the Great Northern Railway. The nest of 

 the Sand Martin is placed at the end of a tunnel of 

 varying depth, excavated by the bird in the soft bank or 

 cliff. Both birds assist in making this gallery, which slopes 

 upwards slightly from the entrance, and frequently turns 

 several times before the end is reached. I have often 

 known a big stone to stop the way, and cause the hole 



