BIRD NOTES 43 



Some scores of birds were turned out at Gorleston 

 when the cliff slopes facing the sea were levelled and 

 brought under cultivation; and the great falls of 

 cliff at Scratby, caused by sea-storms, have ousted a 

 colony there. Fortunately, railway cuttings offer 

 greater security, and have been chosen by the Sand- 

 Martins, whose numbers do not appear to have 

 suffered the decrease observed in kindred species. 

 Beyond Gorleston, towards Gorton, the nest-holes 

 of the Sand-Martins are still tenanted in the summer 

 months. In July 1890 I counted seventy-one in an 

 area of some twenty-four square yards. From their 

 shallowness it seemed that some borings had been 

 begun and given up because of an obstructive stone 

 or a furze root ; or some caprice of the little miner 

 had made it suddenly decide upon another site. 

 Most of the tenanted burrows were situated at least 

 eighteen inches from the abrupt top of the sand- 

 cliff, and were protected somewhat by overhanging 

 furze. It was hard work climbing and crawling up 

 the crumbling slope to inspect the colony, for the 

 loose sand gave way at every step, and necessitated 

 three efforts to make one actual advance. The 

 borings were more than arm's length, and not a 

 nest could be touched ; but some urchins had been 



