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against the wall. When it builds in a crevice or 

 other spot which has not been prepared for it, the 

 nest is found to consist of dried grass, leaves, moss, 

 feathers, &c., and in breeding time contains from 

 four to six white eggs. The Purple Martin feeds 

 mostly upon the larger insects, such as wasps, 

 bees, beetles, &c. 



MAETIN, SAND. 



HIEUNDO BIPAKIA, Lin. 



This bird, the earliest of the tribe in its visit to 

 Great Britain, and the smallest of the genus ever 

 seen in this country, is first observed about the 

 end of March, and takes its departure about the 

 middle of September. It is partially distributed 

 throughout this country, and is said to be more 

 numerous than the other species in the Orkney 

 Islands, but is found in considerable numbers only 

 in those districts which offer suitable situations for 

 its peculiar mode of nidification. The places 

 which it selects for this purpose are the precipitous 

 sandy banks which border rivers. In these, by 

 means of its bill and claws, it burrows horizontally 

 to a considerable depth, and at the end of the hole 

 makes a nest of hay, sfcraw, feathers, &c., in which 



