PLATE I 

 SAND MARTIN. Cotile riparia 



May 2gth, 1896. This Plate is taken from a very pretty colony on the banks 

 of the Spey below Aviemore. I had to set up my camera in two feet of 

 running water before I could get a satisfactory photograph. 



Nearly all the nests contained fresh eggs. Most of them were only a few 

 inches from the mouth of the hole, but the top ones were somewhat deeper, 

 as the soil was soft and easily excavated by the birds. The nests were 

 composed of little bits of dead grass, a few small straws, and a profusion 

 of feathers, chiefly those of the domestic fowl. 



At a colony on the banks of the Findhorn I was interested to watch 

 the old birds teaching their young to fly. The young birds sat in the mouth 

 of the hole and the old birds flew close past them, sometimes hovering in 

 front of them and twittering loudly, no doubt trying to induce them to fly. 

 I saw one little bird launch itself forth and flutter across the swiftly flowing 

 stream, while the two old birds flew alongside, and encouraged it to keep 

 up its efforts. Finally the rest of the brood crossed the river in safety, and 

 took up their position on a wire fence on the other side, where I saw them 

 afterwards being fed by their parents. 



VOL. III. D 



