<* inri ^* he sand - mart i Q is b y much the least of any of 



~T ". the British swallows. 



It is curious to observe with what different 

 degrees of skill Providence has endowed birds of 

 the same genus, so near in their general mode of life ; for, while the 

 swallow and the house-martin discover the greatest address in 

 raising and securely fixing crusts or shells of loam for their young, 

 the sand-martin digs out a round and regular hole in the sand or 

 earth, which is serpentine, horizontal, and about two feet deep. At 

 the inner end of this burrow does this bird deposit, in a good degree 

 of safety, her rude nest, consisting of fine grasses and feathers, 

 nsually goose feathers, very inartificially laid together. 



Perseverance will accomplish anything: though at first one would 

 be disinclined to believe that this weak bird, with her soft and tender 

 bill and claws, should ever be able to bore the stubborn sand-bank, 

 without entirely disabling herself. Yet with these feeble instruments 

 have I seen a pair of them make great dispatch, and could remark 

 how much they had scooped that day, by the fresh sand which ran 

 down the bank, and was of a different colour from that which lay 

 loose and bleached in the sun. 



The sand-martin arrives much about the same time with the 

 swallow, and lays, as she does, from four to six white eggs. The 

 nestlings are supported with gnats and other small insects, and some- 

 times they are fed with dragon-flies almost as long as themselves. 



In the last week in June we have seen a row of these sitting on 

 a rail, near a great pool, as perchers, and so young and helpless, as 

 easily to be taken by hand ; but whether the dams ever feed them 

 on the wing, as swallows and house-martins do, we have never 

 yet been able to determine ; nor do we know whether they pursue 

 and attack birds of prey. 



When they happen to breed near hedges and enclosures, they 

 are dispossessed of their breeding-holes by the house-sparrow, 

 which is, on the same account, a fell adversary to house-martins. 



These swallows are no songsters, but rather mute, making only 

 a little harsh noise when a person approaches their nests. 



Undoubtedly they breed a second time, like the house-martin 

 and swallow ; and withdraw about Michaelmas. 



These birds have a peculiar manner of flying, flitting about with 

 odd jerks and vacillations, not unlike the motions of a butterfly. 

 Doubtless the flight of all swallows is influenced by, and adapted 

 to, the peculiar sort of insects which furnish their food. 



They dip and wash as they fly sometimes, like the house-martin 

 and swallow. G. W. 



