218 On the Ornithology of Wilts \_Ilirundinidaf\. 



very great extent. Lloyd in his Scandinavian Adventures (vol. ii., 

 p. 353) says, that in Lapland half the Martins' nests of the preced- 

 ing year which he examined, contained the remains of half- grown 

 and abandoned young. The same author also observes, " though in 

 England we set little value on this bird, such is not the case in the 

 more northern parts of Scandinavia, where those pests, the 

 mosquitoes, literally swarm ; for knowing the destruction the 

 martin causes amongst them, the inhabitants not only protect it in 

 every way, but very commonly fasten great numbers of scroll- 

 shaped pieces of bark of the birch tree, somewhat resembling the 

 sparrow-pots in use with us, to the sides of their habitations, for 

 the bird to breed in/' Here too in this county we have an 

 honourable preeminence for rearing these birds ; for Rennie the 

 editor of Montagu's Dictionary, says, " the greatest number of 

 House Martins' nests he ever saw together was under the north 

 eave of Mr. Heneage's stables, at Compton Bassett House in 

 Wiltshire." There were about fifty nests in one continuous line. 



"Sand Martin" (Hirundo riparia). This little sober coloured 

 bird, dusky brown above, and dull white beneath, receives its 

 names of " Sand Martin " and " Bank Swallow," from its tendency 

 to make its nest in holes in the banks of rivers, on the abrupt 

 sand bank of a deep road cutting, or the perpendicular side of a 

 quarry : in short the steep face of any cliff will answer the purpose, 

 provided only the soil be soft and sandy enough to allow of exca- 

 vation to the depth of two or three feet ; and in some favoured 

 spots, several of which exist in Wiltshire, the sand banks which 

 these birds frequent are completely riddled with their holes for a 

 considerable space. So well known for ages has this habit been, 

 that Pliny the elder in his great work on Natural History, applied 

 the term "riparia " to the Sand Martin 1800 years ago, and it has 

 enjoyed the appellation ever since. It arrives a few days earlier 

 than any of its congeners, and may be met with in its favourite 

 haunts about the second week in April : it differs from the Martin 

 in its inferior size, and browner upper plumage : the beak though 

 s-mali and short, is very hard and sharp, and admirably adapted 

 for digging, and indeed is the only instrument employed, the 



