NATURAL HISTORY OF SELBORNE. 



171 



LETTER XX. 



TO THE SAME. 



SELBORNE, Feb. z6th, 1774. 



DEAR SIR, The sand-martin, or bank-martin, is by much the 

 least of any of the British hirundines, and, as far as we have ever 

 seen, the smallest known hirundo, though Brisson asserts that 

 there is one much smaller, and that is the hirundo esculenta* 



But it is much to be regretted that it is scarce possible for any 

 observer to be so full and exact as he could wish in reciting the cir- 

 cumstances attending the life and conversation of this little bird, 



, 



ESCULENT SWALLOW. 



since it '^fera naturd, at least in this part of the kingdom, dis- 

 claiming all domestic attachments, and haunting wild heaths and 

 commons where there are large lakes; while the other species, 

 especially the swallow and house-martin, are remarkably gentle and 

 domesticated, and never seem to think themselves safe but under 

 the protection of man. 



* The H. escidenta is very small in body, but has a largo extent of wing ; it belongs 

 more properly to the group of swifts. There are one or two species smaller even than 

 that mentioned by Brisson. 



The flea of the sand-martin, mentioned next page, is not the same as the bed-flea, but is 

 the Ce? atophyllus bifi^i/itus of Curtis. 



