THE SAND MARTIN. 99 



great height in the air. It feeds entirely upon flying- 

 insects, and these are usually taken near the ground. 



The Sand Martin is to be found throughout the entire 

 continent of Europe, even as far north as Norway, Russia, 

 and Sweden. It visits Siberia; in Malta it is found all 

 the year round; and is met with in America and India. 



The arrival of this pretty little visitor takes place in 

 the spring, about the middle of April, and it may be 

 most frequently seen* skimming over the surface of ponds, 

 streams, meadows, or commons, in pursuit of food, or occa- 

 sionally dipping into the water to lave its plumage. It 

 takes its departure from our shores about September, 

 occasionally a few will remain as late as October. The 

 migration is more universal than in the case of the House 

 Martin and Swallow, some few of which generally remain 

 behind and perish in the inclemency of winter. 



The length of the Sand Martin is about four and three- 

 quarter inches. Bill, dark brown, nearly black ; iris, dark 

 brown ; head, crown, nape, and neck, light brown ; chin, 

 throat, and breast, white. The breast has a band of light 

 brown across it, and a few spots of the same colour just 

 below; the back is light brown. The greater and lesser 



wing-coverts are brown, the longer feathers being blackish- 

 brown, and reaching beyond the tail. The under Aving- 

 co verts are light brown. The tail is forked, though not so 

 noticeably as in some of the other members of the family, 

 and is blackish-brown ; underneath, the tail is a lighter 

 colour, and the under tail-coverts are white. Tlie legs and 

 toes are scaled ; they are of a dark reddish-brown ; claws, 

 dark brown ; just above the hind claw there are a few 

 downy feathers of a buffy-white colour. The plumage of 

 the female is very similar to that of the male; and in the 



