SAND MARTIN 



Cotile ripana 



Sand Martin is a common and widely distributed 

 summer visitor to the British Islands, and breeds in 

 most districts where banks suited to its method of 

 nidification are to be found. It breeds in the Outer 

 Hebrides, and in Orkney, but is only occasionally seen 

 in Shetland. 



Owing to the partiality of this bird to perpendicular 



cliffs of earth and sand, it is somewhat local in its distribution ; and, as 

 these cliffs or banks are usually found on the shores of lakes, pools, disused 

 quarries and the banks of streams, it seems to be partial to the neighbour- 

 hood of water; perhaps, too, the flies on which it feeds are more numerous 

 near ponds and streams. They are the first of the Swallows to leave in the 

 autumn, most of them quitting our shores in September; it is frequently seen 

 in England in the beginning of April on its return from its winter-quarters, 

 which are very little known. 



Immediately after its return to this country, the Sand Martin repairs 

 to its breeding-haunts, sleeping in the old holes at night. The depth of 

 the hole depends on the nature of the soil ; in soft sandy soil the hole is 

 often three or four feet deep, in hard gravelly soil it is sometimes only 

 eight or ten inches ; it is entirely excavated by the birds themselves, 

 and they do it very rapidly, considering the feeble tools with which they 

 are supplied. The work of excavation is chiefly carried on in the early 

 morning ; both birds assist, and often begin two or three holes before they 

 finally decide on a nesting-site. Many holes may be seen stopped when only 

 a few inches deep, for no apparent reason whatever. The nesting-chamber is 

 usually slightly higher than the orifice of the hole, showing that the bird 

 understands the principle of drainage. These holes vary considerably in 



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