<fancf- martin 



LETTER XX. 



To the same. 



SELBORNE, Feb. 261/1, 1774. 



EAR SIR, The sand-martin, or bank- 

 martin, is by much the least of any of the 

 British hirundines, and, as far as we have 

 ever seen, the smallest known hirundo, 

 though Brisson asserts that there is one 

 much smaller, and that is the hirundo 

 esculenta. 



But it is much to be regretted that it is scarce possible for 

 any observer to be so full and exact as he could wish in reciting 

 the circumstances attending the life and conversation of this 

 little bird, since it is /era naturd, at least in this part of the 



