The Sand-Martin.'] OF ORKNEY. . 75 



Mr Thomson has most beautifully described this particular of 

 the small birds' yearly task in his Spring, which, with a quo- 

 tation or two from another author on the same subject, shall 

 conclude this account of the land-birds in Orkney. 



Some to the holly-hedge 



Nestling repair, and to the thicket some ; 



Some to the rude protection of the thorn 



Commit their feeble offspring : the cleft tree 



Offers its kind concealment to a few, 



Their food its insects, and its moss their nests. 



Others apart, far in the grassy dale, 



Or roughening waste, their humble texture weave. 



But most in woodland solitudes delight, 



In unfrequented glooms, or shaggy banks, 



Steep and divided by a babbling brook, 



Whose murmurs soothe them all the live-long day, 



When by kind duty fix'd. Among the roots 



Of hazel, pendant o'er the plaintive stream, 



They frame the first foundation of their domes ; 



Dry sprigs of trees in artful fabric laid, 



And bound with clay together. Now 'tis nought 



But restless hurry through the busy air, 



Beat by unnumber'd wings. The swallow sweeps 



The slimy pool, to build his hanging house 



Intent. And often, from the careless back 



Of herds and flocks, a thousand tugging bills 



Pluck hair and wool ; and oft when unobserv'd, 



Steal from the barn a straw ; till soft and warm, 



Clean and complete, their habitation grows. 



Spring, 1. 638657- 



