142 THE NATURAL HISTORY 



gentle and domesticated, and never seem to think themselves 

 safe but under the protection of man. 



Here are in this parish, in the sand-pits and banks of the 

 lakes of Wolmer-forest, several colonies of these birds ; and yet 

 they are never seen in the village ; nor do they at all frequent 

 the cottages that are scattered about in that wild district. The 

 only instance I ever remember where this species haunts any 

 building is at the town of Bishop's Waltham, in this county, 

 where many sand-martins nestle and breed in the scaffold-holes 

 of the back-wall of William of Wykeham's stables : but then this 

 wall stands in a very sequestered and retired enclosure, and 

 faces upon a large and beautiful lake. And indeed this species 

 seems so to delight in large waters, that no instance occurs of 

 their abounding, but near vast pools or rivers : and in particular 

 it has been remarked that they swarm in the banks of the 

 Thames in some places below London-bridge. 



It is curious to observe with what different degrees of archi- 

 tectonic skill Providence has endowed birds of the same genus, 

 and so nearly correspondent in their general mode of life ! for 

 while the swallow and the house-martin discover the greatest 

 address in raising and securely fixing crusts or shells of loam as 

 cunabula for their young, the bank-martin terebrates a round 

 and regular hole in the sand or earth, which is serpentine, 

 horizontal, and about two feet deep. At the inner end of this 

 burrow does this bird deposit, in a good degree of safety, her 

 rude nest, consisting of fine grasses and feathers, usually goose- 

 feathers, very inartificially laid together. 



Perseverance will accomplish anything : though at first one 

 would be disinclined to believe that this weak bird, with her 

 soft and tender bill and claws, should ever be able to bore the 

 stubborn sand-bank without entirely disabling herself: yet with 

 these feeble instruments have I seen a pair of them make great 

 dispatch : and could remark how much they had scooped that 

 day by the fresh sand which ran down the bank, and was of a 

 different colour from that which lay loose and bleached in the 

 sun. 



In what space of time these little artists are able to mine and 

 finish these cavities I have never been able to discover, for 

 reasons given above ; but it would be a matter worthy of obser- 

 vation, where it falls in the way of any naturalist to make his 

 remarks. This I have often taken notice of, that several holes 

 of different depths are left unfinished at the end of summer. To 



