66 BIRDS' NESTS. 



repaired, in process of time acquires a flat- 

 tened form, and has the appearance of having 

 been cemented together by the art of the bird. 

 It usually lays two eggs, an inch long, and of 

 a pure, spotless white. If these are taken or 

 destroyed, their place is supplied by another 

 pair, but only a single brood is reared in a 

 season. 



HOUSE MAIITIN. Hirundo urUca. 



PLATE! Fm.l. 



THE famous lexicographer, Dr. Johnsor 

 who loved brick walls far more than grassy 

 banks, is reported to have addressed some 

 birds which he observed in a wild district of 

 Scotland, with the exclamation, " What, have 

 wings and stay here ! " The city doctor 

 probably placed the house martin as first 

 among the philosophers of the feathered tribe, 

 for rarely is it seen at any distance from the 

 haunts of men, and still more unfrequently 

 does it place its nest away from the friendly 



