238 ON VARIOUS PAHTS 



and that he might have surprised them 

 just as they were awaking from their Win- 

 ter slumbers. When he had dug for some 

 time, he found the holes were horizontal 

 and serpentine, as I had observed before ; 

 and that the nests were deposited at the 

 inner end, and had been occupied by broods 

 in former Summers, but no torpid birds 

 were to be found. He opened and exa- 

 mined about a dozen holes. Another gen- 

 tleman made the same search many years 

 ago, with as little success. 



These holes were in depth about two 

 feet. 



March 21, 1790. A single bank or sand 

 martin was seen hovering and playing 

 round the sand pit at Short Heath, where 

 in the Summer they abound. 

 : April 9, 1793. A sober hind assures us, 

 that this day, on Wish-hanger common, 

 between Hedleigh and Frinsham, he saw 

 several bank-martins playing in and out, 

 and hanging before some nest holes in a 

 sand-hill, where these birds usually nestle; 



This incident confirms my suspicions 



