THE MARTIN. 33 



Family HIR UNDINIDsE. 



THE MARTIN. 



Chclidon urbica, LINN. 



THE House-Martin breeds throughout Europe, ranging even further north than 

 the Swallow. Seebohm says of it : " It occasionally straggles to the Canaries 

 and Madeira, and breeds abundantly in North-west Africa. In Egypt and Nubia 

 it is only known on migration ; but it breeds in Palestine, Asia Minor, and Persia. 

 Scarcely anything is known of its winter quarters, which probably are somewhere 

 in Central Africa. A few birds are supposed to winter in Algeria, and stragglers 

 are said to occur in Turkestan and India." 



Generally distributed throughout Great Britain, with the exception of the 

 Outer Hebrides. 



The adult Martin has the upper parts to the rump glossy blue-black ; the 

 rump, inner tail-coverts, and under parts pure white ; wings and tail brownish- 

 black, slightly tinted with green ; bill black ; feet horn -yellowish, but densely 

 covered with fine white feathering ; iris hazel. Female similar to the male. Young 

 birds are smoky brown above, the rump and under parts sordid white ; the inner- 

 most secondaries tipped, and most of the quills edged with white ; the tail shorter 

 and less forked. 



Apart from its colouring, this species is easily distinguished on the wing from 

 the Swallow by the absence of the long tapering points to the outside tail feathers; 

 but the white rump is also usually very conspicuous. 



The Martin arrives in this country about a week later than the Swallow ; that 

 is to say between the middle and end of April, according to the nature of the 

 season ; it usually leaves again between the end of September and beginning of 

 October, though stragglers have been known to linger even to December. 



In its habits and haunts this species much resembles the Swallow : why 

 Seebohm went out of his way to assert that " its legs are too short to allow it to 

 walk " I do not understand ; for it certainly can not only walk, but run nimbly 

 for short distances, without erecting its wings ; though, if in a hurry, it uses its 

 wings to assist it in taking surprising leaps. The call-note of the Martin is a 

 thin whistled sound, something like szect ; the song a modulated twittering. 



VOL. ii. G 



