158 BRITISH BIRDS' NESTS. 



of which, and principally on the side with a 

 south-east aspect, I have counted forty-seven nests 

 several years in succession. My brother and I went 

 down in 1894 specially to photograph the building, 

 and to our great disappointment there was not a 

 single nest under its eaves ! The owner informed 

 us that it was the first time he had noticed the 

 absence of the Martins for twenty-five years, and 

 attributed it to the droughty summer of 1893 

 having made suitable building materials difficult to 

 procure, and the unbearable persecution and robbery 

 of the Sparrows. General over the British Isles. 



Materials. Clay or mud made into pellets and 

 cemented together until they form a kind of shell 

 like the half of a deep basin, fixed close up under 

 an eave or projecting object, with a small elliptical 

 hole at the top, and generally on one side. It is 

 lined internally with bits of straw, hay, and 

 feathers. 



Eggs. Four to five, rarely six ; white and un- 

 spotted, the yoke giving them a slight pinky tinge 

 before they are blown. I see by my list of rare 

 natural history notes, culled from that admirable 

 paper, that one or two observers have recorded 

 in the Field the finding of rust-red spotted speci- 

 mens ; but I have never met with a single egg 

 showing any inclination in this direction out of many 

 scores of nests examined. Size about *8 by *52 in. 



Time. May, June, July, August, and even as 

 late as September. 



Remarks. Migratory, arriving in April and 

 leaving in September and October ; although indi- 

 viduals are frequently reported in November and 

 even December. Notes : call, something like spitz, 

 but very difficult to represent. Local and other 

 names : Window Martin, Window Swallow, Eave 



