OF SELBORNE. 271 



ready-finished house get the start, in hatch- 

 ing, of those that build new, by ten days or 

 a fortnight. These industrious artificers 

 are at their labours in the long days before 

 four in the morning : when they fix their 

 materials they plaster them on with their 

 chins, moving their heads with a quick 

 vibratory motion. They dip and wash as 

 they fly sometimes in very hot weather, but 

 not so frequently as swallows. It has been 

 observed that martins usually build to a 

 north-east or north-west aspect, that the 

 heat of the sun may not crack and destroy 

 their nests : but instances are also remem- 

 bered where they bred for many years in 

 vast abundance in an hot stifled inn-yard, 

 against a wall facing to the south. 



Birds in general are wise in their choice 

 of situation : but in this neighbourhood, 

 every Summer, is seen a strong proof to 

 the contrary at an house without eaves in 

 an exposed district, where some martins 

 build year by year in the corners of the 

 windows. But, as the corners of these 

 windows (which face to the south-east and 



