FAIRY MARTIN. 
tail-coverts dark isabelline-buff with dark shaft-lines to the feathers ; abdomen 
silky-white ; under wing-coverts and axillaries pale fawn colour ; under-surface 
of flight-quills and lower aspect of tail brown. Bill, feet and eyes black. Total 
length 120 mm. ; culmen 5, wing 93, tail 39, tarsus 10. Figured. Collected on the 
Nepean River, New South Wales, in September 1894. 
Adult female. Similar to the above. 
Immature. Take on the adult plumage from the nest. 
Nest. Bottle- or retort-shaped, constructed of mud and placed together (either on buildings 
or hollow trees or cliffs), lined with feathers or grass. 
Eggs. Clutch, four or five. White, sometimes covered with reddish-brown specks. 
18 mm. to 17 by 13 to 12. 
Breeding-season. August to January or February. 
As Gould was the describer of this species and as his account has been 
little bettered, it seems right to quote it : “ The Fairy Martin is dispersed 
over all the southern portions of Australia, and, like every other member of 
the genus (sic), it is strictly migratory. It usually arrives in the month of 
August, and departs again in February or March ; during this interval it rears 
two or three broods. It appears to have an antipathy to the country near 
the sea, for neither in New South Wales nor at Swan River have I ever heard 
of its approaching the coast-line nearer than twenty miles ; hence, while I 
never observed it at Sydney, the town of Maitland on the Hunter is annually 
visited by it in great numbers. In Western Australia it is common between 
Northam and York, while the towns of Perth and Fremantle on the coast are, 
like Sydney, unfavoured with its presence. I observed it throughout the 
district of the Upper Hunter, as well as in every part of the interior, breeding 
in various localities, wherever suitable situations presented themselves ; 
sometimes their nests are constructed in the cavities of decayed trees ; while 
not unfrequently clusters of them are attached to the perpendicular banks of 
rivers, the sides of rocks, etc., generally in the vicinity of water. The long 
bottle-shaped nest is composed of mud or clay, and, like that of our Common 
Martin, is only worked at in the morning and evening, unless the day be wet 
or lowery. In the construction of the nests these birds appear to work in small 
companies, six or seven assisting in the formation of each nest, one remaining 
within and receiving the mud brought by the others in their mouths ; in shape 
these nests are nearly round, but vary in size from four to six or seven inches 
in diameter ; the spouts of some being eight or nine inches in length. When 
built on the sides of rocks or in the hollows of trees, they are placed without 
any regular order, in clusters of thirty or forty together, some with their spouts 
inclining downwards, others at right angles, etc. ; they are lined with feathers 
and fine grasses.” 
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