The Afkican House Martin.- 



-BIRDS.- 



-The House Mautin. 



291 



of its plumage is ash-grey above and whitish beneath. 

 In its habits it exhibits none of that engineering skill 

 which is possessed by the sand martin, but builds a 

 mud nest, lined with fine straw and feathers, amongst 

 the clefts of the rocks, where it always takes up its 

 habitation. It flies more slowly than the other 

 swallows, but rises to a great height in the air ; its 

 liome being amongst the mountains, it is rarely seen 

 in the plains, except when stormy weather in the 

 upper regions drives it to seek its insect prey near the 

 surface of the earth. The eggs, which are of a pure 

 white colour, are five or six in number. This species 

 is the earliest visitor to the south of Europe of all the 

 (■wallows, and is also the last to take its departure. 



THE AFRICAN HOUSE MARTIN {Colyle fidtijtda) 

 dilVers from both the preceding species iu building its 

 mud nest under the eaves of houses ; the nest is of 

 a cup-like form. This species is found from Abys- 

 sinia to the Cape of Good Hope. 



THE SMALL SAND MARTIN {Cotijle sinensis), and 

 the BROWN SAND MARTIN (C. concolor), are eastern 

 species, of which the former burrows into banks in the 

 same way as our British species, whilst the latter 

 builds its nest about houses, high walls, and other 

 buildings. Both these species are foimd in India, but 

 tlicy do not appear to be very numerous. 



THE HOUSE MARTIN [Chdidon «)-6ica)— Plate 5, 

 fig. 14 — is distinguished from all the other species of 

 the present family by having the feet clothed with 

 very small feathers, instead of shields or scales. It is 

 a small bird, measuring less than five inches and a half 

 in length ; the plumage of the upper parts is of a rich, 

 glossy bluish-black colour, except on the rump, which 

 is white ; tlie whole lower surface of the body is pure 

 white, and the quill feathers of the wings and tail are 

 black. The wings are long and pointed, reaching 

 quite to the extremity of the tail, which is moderately 

 forked. 



The House Martin is a common summer visitor to 

 all parts of Europe, extending its migrations even 

 as far north as Lapland and Iceland. In Asia it is 

 common in Siberia. The European martins mi- 

 giate southwards into Africa like the swallow, and 

 their times of arrival and departiu'e seem nearly 

 to coincide with those of that species. In fact, the 

 martins and swallows are said to leave the African 

 shores at the same time; but as the latter possess rather 

 greater powers of wing, they leave the martins behind 

 them, and arrive in their European homes a few days 

 earlier. The martins appear to have some sort of 

 instinctive consciousness of their inferiorit}' in power of 

 flight, for they depart from our shores on their return 

 journey, a few days sooner than the swallows, and thus 

 both will probably arrive in their winter quarters about 

 the same time. 



In their general liabits, in their mode of life, and 

 their ibndncss for building about the habitations of 

 men, the martins exactly resemble the swallows, and 

 they share with them in the favour which seems to be 

 luiiversally regarded as their due, both from the fami- 

 liarity of their habits, and their character as the har- 

 bingers of summer. Like the swallows they pass 

 jiearly all their time on the wing in pm'snit of insects ; 



they are also very fond of the vicinity of water, over 

 which they may constantly be seen skimming, now 

 sweeping about in wide circles, now flying straight 

 along, with their wings nearly touching the smface, 

 and dipping their little beaks into the flvud, for the pur- 

 pose of drinking. Like the preceding species also, 

 they are found to return with great constancy to their 

 former places of abode, and to make use of tlie same 

 nest for several years together. 



The House Martin, as well as several other members 

 of this family, nourishes a most inveterate enmity to 

 all birds of pre}', which he endeavours to drive away 

 from his haunts. In this object all the individuals of 

 this species inhabiting a locality will co-operate, and on 

 other occasions tliey seem to have some sort of intelli- 

 gence with each other, which enables them to com- 

 bine their eflbrts to effect some desired purpose. An 

 interesting example of this is related by Dupont de 

 Nemours. He says — "I once saw a martin wdiich had 

 unfortunately, I know not how, caught its foot in the 

 nmning knot of a thread, the other end of which was 

 attached to a gutter of the College des Quatre Nations. 

 Its strength being exhausted, it hung and cried at the 

 end of the thread, which it raised sometimes by trjdng 

 to fly away. All the martins of the great basin between 

 the bridge of the Tuilleries and the Pont Neuf, and 

 perhaps from a still greater distance, collected to the 

 mmiber of several thousands. They formed a cloud, 

 all emitting cries of alarm and pity. After much hesi- 

 tation, and a tumultuous consultation, one of them 

 invented a mode of delivering their companion, made 

 tlie others understand it, and commenced its execution. 

 All those that were within reach came in turn, as if 

 running at the ring, and gave a peck to the thread in 

 passing. Those blows, all directed upon the same 

 point, succeeded each other every second, or even still 

 more frequently. Half an hour of this work w-as suffi- 

 cient to cut through the thread, and set the captive at 

 liberty." 



The House Maitin, as already stated, generally takes 

 up its abode in towns, and builds its nest under the 

 cornices and eaves of houses, in the upper angles of 

 windows, and similar situations. From its partiality 

 for windows, it is often known as the Window Swallow. 

 The nest is composed of mud or w-et clay, collected by 

 the birds in pellets, and brought up to the place 

 selected for the nest in their bills. According to 51. 

 A'ieillot, they frequently make use of worm-casts in 

 their little edifices. The building is carried on with 

 gi'cat care and deliberation, only a single layer of earth 

 being applied in the day ; this is left to harden befoie 

 any more materials are brought. Gradualh', by the 

 addition of course after course of mortar, the nest 

 acquires its well-known, nearly hemispherical shape, 

 the only means of ingress and egress being a small 

 round a]ierture al the top. The interior is then lined 

 with a little hay and a few feathers, and the nest is 

 ready for the reception of the eggs. Tliesc are four or 

 five in number, and of a pure white colour. They are 

 hatched in less than a fortnight, and as soon as the 

 young are ready to leave the nest, the female lays 

 again, thus producing three, and sometimes four broods 

 in a season. The last brood is sometimes hatched so 



