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and will even inhabit islands ; in fact, I found a small colony nesting on a lonely islet, 

 one of the Magdalene group, called Shagg Rock, -which stands in the uiidst of tiie Gulf 

 of St. Lawrence, more than a hundred miles from the mainland. The rock rose abruptly 

 from the water to the height of 90 feet, but the top was covered with soil, portions of 

 which overhung the water, affording the Swallows a fine opportunity to build. Tlie 

 rocky face of the cliff was inhabited by Cormorants ; hundreds of Terns, that were 

 breeding on the upper surface, hovered confusedly about, and filled the air v^ith. their 

 harsh, continuous cries, but amidst all this discord the soft twitter of the Bank-Swallows 

 could be heard as they flew quietly about their strangely chosen homes. 



" Either these bii-ds do not mate until they begin to construct their nests, or else they 

 are polygamous, for it is quite common to see two or three males in pursuit of a single 

 female ; but I think the former hypothesis more j)robable, as both sexes incubate. The 

 Bank-Swallows bring out their young early in July, and by the latter part of that month 

 they accompany their parents in their aerial flight in search of insects ; later, in August, 

 they all disapjiear, being the first of all the S^^allows to depart for the South." 



Mr. Stearns, in his ' New England Bird Life,' has the following note : — " Their 

 nesting-habits are very interesting. Given an embankment of earth soft enough 

 to be worked — a natural exposure in the bed of a stream, a site left in running a 

 raUroad, a gravel pit — straight the busy birds come flocking to colonize. Soon the 

 face of the escarpment will be seen studded ^Aitb little round holes, before which the 

 light wings dash in airy circles. The places are not unlike those the Kingfisher selects, 

 and the larger entrance of the sturdy rattler's hole may sometimes be seen in the midst 

 of the lesser openings. It is astonishing how far the weak birds, with their slight bills 

 and claws, will manage to penetrate the ground ; sometimes to the extent of two feet, 

 though the burrows are not ordinarily so extensive as this. They also display much tact 

 in selecting the most suitable soil to work iii, neither too hard to be penetrated with ease, 

 nor so soft as to cave in or be unsafe from the falling of loosened pebbles. Any one may 

 be satisfied of this by examining a bank where different sti-ata are exposed, and noting 

 hoAV the Swallows confine themselves to such belts of soil as suit them best. At the 

 farther end of the passage-way the nest is placed — a slight affair of dried grasses lined witli 

 feathers. The eggs are from three to six in number. I have repeatedly found the latter 

 number. There seems to be some irregularity in the time they are laid. I liavc fdiiiul 

 perfectly fresh eggs in the same nest with others containinii' woll-lorined embryos, and 

 a friend informs me that he has seen in one nest fresh eggs and newly-hatched young. 

 Is it possible, in such cases, that more than one bird has made use of the same nest r 

 The eggs are pure white without markings, and measiirc 0"GS to 0'T6 hy almui U'.JU. 

 They are first laid the latter part of May, with a second set later in the sumnun-." 



In the Natural History Museum at South Kensington is a grou]) of mounicd liirds, 

 illustrating the nesting of the Sand-^Iartin, and presented to tlie nation by Lonl"\\al- 

 singham, to whose liberality so many of the most important of the groups of British 

 Birds, which are one of the principal attractions of the Museum in the present day, are 

 due. The sandhank in which the Martins nested has not only been faithfully repro- 

 duced, but the actual dimensions of the tunnels, nine in number, have been preserved. 



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