3 THE FAIRY MARTIN. 273 
with its sharp little claws to any small projection, and sticking itself by the 
pressure of its tail against the wall. The interior of the nest is lined with 
grass and other soft substances. 
There are sometimes two broods in the year, and when the second brood 
has been hatched at a very late period of the year, the young are frequently 
deserted and left to starve by their parents, who are unabie to resist the 
innate impulse that urges them to seek a warmer climate. When fully 
fledged, and before they are forced to migrate, the young birds generally 
roost for the night in osiers and other water-loving trees. 
Except in confinement, the Swallow knows not the existence of frost, nor 
the extreme of heat, passing from Europe to Africa as soon as the cold 
weather begins to draw in, and migrating again to the cooler climes as soon 
as the temperature of its second home becomes inconvenient to its sensitive 
FAIRY MARTIN.—(Aivundo Ariel.) 
existence. The time of its arrival in England is various, and depends 
almost entirely on the state of the weather. Solitary individuals are now and 
then seen in very early months, but, as a general fact, the Swallow does not 
arrive until the second week in April ; the time of its departure is generally 
about the middle of September, although some few lingerers remain in the 
country for more than a month after the departure of their fellows. 
Guided by some wondrous instinct, the Swallow always finds its way back 
to the nest which it had made, or in which it had been reared, as has 
frequently been proved by affixing certain marks to individual birds, and 
watching for their return. Sometimes it happens that the house on which 
they had built has been taken down during their absence, and in that case 
the distress of the poor birds is quite pitiable. They fly to and fro over the 
T 
