296 SWALLOWS AND MARTINS 



clammy secretion " which Macgillivray has noted. 1 The same writer, 

 however, states that he failed to discover "traces of glutinous or 

 albuminous matter in the nests of our white-rumped or red-fronted 

 swallows." 2 He does not mention the tests used, and at the time of 

 writing these lines (January) I was unable to verify his statement, as 

 the analyst consulted required a fresh-made nest. Macgillivray also 

 omits to mention whether the nests he examined were fresh. The 

 matter, therefore, must be left in doubt. 



The cohesiveness of the nests is no doubt aided by the admixture 

 of hair and straw ; but it is curious that these additions should be 

 found most abundant in the nest of the swallow, though they can 

 hardly be more necessary to it than to that of the house-martin. 

 Their presence in the mud-walls of the latter species has generally 

 the appearance of being due to their having been picked up acci- 

 dentally with the mud. 



There is reason to suppose that martins and swallows set about 

 building or repairing their nests shortly after their arrival. The fact 

 that some nests are begun six or seven weeks after the appearance 

 of the first birds on our shores is probably to be explained by the 

 protracted nature of the immigration, certain birds appearing much 

 later than others. Occasionally delay is caused by the non-arrival of 

 one of a pair. Good examples of this were given by a French 

 naturalist, M. P. Vacquez, at the Ornithological Congress of 1900. 3 In 

 1896 a pair built inside his dining-room, over the door. Next year 

 the cock appeared on April 11, fluttered at the window, was let in, 

 and went to the nest. But he waited day after day in vain for his 

 mate, who had evidently perished on migration. At last he decided 

 to wait no longer, and contracted a fresh union. Whether he did this 

 at the expense of a neighbour, or found a disengaged hen, was not 

 discovered. His second wife differed in disposition considerably from 

 the first. The latter was a stay-at-home, the second a gad-about 

 coureuse. The old had evidently possessed artistic tastes, for, when rest- 



1 See above p. 280. 2 History of Birds, iii. 578, 599. 3 Ornis, 1900-2, p. 253. 



