LITTORAL LAND BIRDS. 271 



stones or clods of earth, or wedged into crevices 

 of the rocks and cliffs. It is made of dry grass, 

 moss, scraps of dry seaweed, and lined either with 

 horsehair or fine grass, The four or five eggs are 

 dull bluish-white in ground colour, freckled with 

 grayish or reddish-brown, and sometimes streaked 

 with blackish-brown. Two broods are often reared 

 in the season, the eggs for the latter being laid in 

 July. Many pairs of birds may be found nesting 

 on a short stretch of coast, but no gregarious 

 instincts are manifested at this season. The Rock 

 Pipit has a very restricted geographical distribution, 

 being confined to the European coasts of the 

 Atlantic, including our islands and the Faroes. 



MARTINS. 



Both the species of British Martins resort to 

 many localities on the coast to breed. To the 

 wall-like cliffs the House Martin, Chelidon urbica, 

 often attaches its mud -built cradle. I know of 

 large colonies of this Martin on the sea cliffs of 

 Devonshire, where the nests are placed in rows, or 

 stuck here and there in every sheltered niche. In 

 the same manner the Sand Martin, Cotyle riparia, 

 bores its tunnels into the soft earth at the summit 

 of the sea cliffs, or into the solid banks of earth 

 that in some districts take the place of cliffs. It is 

 not necessary to enter here into details of the 

 economy of these Martins. Both engaging little 

 species add to the life and animation of the coast, 



