THE HOUSE MARTIN 



reach this country. This is a very interesting and curious 

 fact, which I have not seen recorded in any account of the 

 habits of the House Martin. The birds apparently only 

 resort to their nests in many London thoroughfares just 

 at the time they are going to use them. This species 

 closely resembles the Swallow in many of its habits. It 

 passes the same aerial existence, flitting to and fro for the 

 livelong day in quest of food. Occasionally it may be seen 

 sitting on some roof, bare branch, or telegraph wire, and 

 sometimes alights upon the roads. When at rest in these 

 places its movements are awkward and assisted by the 

 half-open wings, for its legs are too short to allow it to 

 walk or hop in any comfort. Its food is composed of 

 insects, chiefly caught on the wing. It has a delightful 

 little song, uttered in a low, warbling strain, but is not 

 heard so frequently as the Swallow ; its call-note is a 

 shrill, spluttering cry. Like the Swallow, the House 

 Martin returns unerringly every year to its old haunts, 

 and the same nests are occupied season after season, when 

 left untenanted by Sparrows. These birds harras the 

 Martins incessantly and often cause them to desert a 

 breeding-place altogether. This Martin pairs for life, 

 and generally rears two broods each season, the eggs for 

 the first being laid in May, for the second in July. In 

 London the nest is usually made under eaves, in the corner 

 of windows, or below plinths and carved stone-work ; 

 but in many localities it is attached to cliffs, bridges and so 

 forth. It is shaped something like half a cone, sometimes 

 more globular, and is made externally of little pellets of 

 mud, which the birds pick up from the roads or any 

 convenient place. I have seen numbers of Martins 

 gathering mud after a water-cart had passed along a 

 suburban road. A small hole at the top admits the 

 parents. This shell is lined with dry grass and feathers. 

 The four or five eggs are white and spotless. After 

 the young are reared the House Martin becomes still 



223 



