SWALLOW AND HOUSE-MARTIN 



complete a martin's neat, hut sometimes, when the bird IN preHHed hy 

 the necessity of laying its eggs, the time may be reduced by half or 

 more. ID these cases it is possible that the drying process may be 

 left incomplete. If so, it would be interesting to know whether the 

 stability of the structure is seriously affected. 



The nest is begun from the bottom, both the cock and the hen 

 sharing in the work. With feet clinging to the wall, and with tail 

 pressed hard against it, each in turn puts in position its pellet of 

 miul and presses it with its chin, that is, with the base of the under 

 part of it* bill The nest grows outwards and upwards, MO that at one 

 stage it assumes a shape not unlike the half saucer of the swallow. 

 In this both cock and hen may sometimes be seen at the same time, 

 working but not always: playful pecks, nibbling caresses, joyful 

 twitterings, show that their interests are not merely architectural. 

 When the walls are finished the martin, as also the swallow, lines the 

 inside with feathers, dry grass, and other soft material, sometimes 

 seized by the bird when on the wing. 



Nests vary very much in their adhesiveness, this no doubt de- 

 pending upon the nature of the soil used. Some fall bodily to the 

 ground, and others seem ready to do so at the slightest touch. I 

 remember once stretching my hand up to a martin's nest which had 

 been forcibly appropriated by a pair of sparrows. These little pests 

 had refurnished their misgotten home in their usual profuse and in- 

 artistic style, with the result that several ends of hay projected from 

 its entrance. In the hope of dislodging the usurpers, I began to draw 

 out the ends, and was not a little astonished (and not very sorry) 

 when the whole structure suddenly parted from the wall and fell to 

 the ground with a rattle mud-walls, lining, and eggs. 



In order to account for the adhesiveness of the normal nests, some 

 writers are of opinion that the bird cements the mud with its saliva. 

 There is something to be said in favour of this view, for it is certain 

 that a portion at least of the mud placed in position is carried inside 

 the bird's mouth, where it would become moistened by the " profuse 



