178 



been made by a martin, or a mole, and which 

 it enlarges a little for its own purpose. The 

 hole has generally an ascending direction, and 

 penetrates t\to or three feet into the bank ; at 

 the end it is scooped into a hollow, where quan- 

 tities of small fishes' bones are often found. 

 Mr. L. has seen these nests frequently ; and he 

 told me that as the old birds appear to have 

 nothing in their bills when they feed their young, 

 it is thought that they discharge from their sto- 

 mach the requisite nourishment. 



There are several species, but this one is the 

 halcyon of the ancients, which poets imagined 

 had a floating nest endowed with power to calm 

 the winds and seas. Some of the gravest of the 

 ancient writers relate, that it sat only a few days, 

 just in the depth of winter, and that during that 

 period the mariner might sail in full security 

 whence the expression, " halcyon days" 



Mr. Lumley has studied the habits even of the 

 despised house-sparrow, which however, he does 

 not at all despise ; for he says that it is a most 

 useful creature, destroying various kinds of 

 grubs that would be most injurious to our crops. 

 Though it generally builds in holes and gutters, 

 and under the eaves of houses, yet it sometimes 

 builds in the top of a tree ; and then its nest, 

 which is carelessly formed, because in a place 

 where it is protected, is made as large as a man's 

 head, with a cover to keep off the rain. It is 



