338 BIRDS OP NORFOLK. 



themselves upon the wing. On one occasion I remember, 

 when sailing up the river from Lowestoffc, about the 

 middle of August, the wires in the vicinity of St. Olave's 

 Bridge were literally black with house and sand-martins, 

 in nearly equal numbers, and a few swallows here and 

 there. It was too early in the season to suppose they 

 had collected preparatory to leaving altogether, and yet 

 their numbers, which might fairly be reckoned by 

 thousands (extending as they did in unbroken lines for 

 at least a hundred yards), was a sight which even the 

 least observant individual could scarcely pass unnoticed, 

 and their ranks no doubt included nearly all the birds 

 reared for miles around, thus met to desport themselves 

 over the waters of the Waveney. Mr. Newton attributes 

 the unquestionable decrease, of late years, in the numbers 

 of the genus Hirundo, and especially in H. urbica, so 

 frequently remarked upon in zoological journals, to the 

 diminution of their food by the drainage of fens and the 

 like. There is no doubt, I think, that this may be con- 

 sidered the main cause of their scarcity in many places ; 

 but as yet, owing to the wide extent of marsh land and 

 the broad districts, the diminution is less perceptible in 

 Norfolk than in many other counties. 



HIRUNDO RIPARIA, Linnaeus. 

 SAND-MARTIN. 



Pleasant as are the home associations connected 

 with the house-martin and the swallow, the above-named 

 species is not the less endeared to us, through the 

 recollection of summer days spent amidst their cheerful 

 haunts. To my mind, the very name is suggestive of 

 holiday recreations and pleasant hours upon the rivers 

 and broads, where the verdant marshes and the winding 

 stream resound on all sides with their ceaseless twit- 



