SWALLOWS AND MARTINS 
141 
made of dry grass and moss, 
lined with horse-hair and covered 
externally with spider-webs and 
lichens, is usually placed in 
some sheltered position, such as 
a crevice in the bark of a tree 
or in the creepers covering the 
trellis-work of a house ; and 
owing to the skilful way in which 
it is covered externally, so as 
to resemble its surroundings, is 
difficult to find. 
The S \V A L L O w s and 
Martins constitute an exceed- 
ingly well-defined group of birds, 
and one which holds a con- 
spicuously high place in the 
regard of mankind, finding a 
welcome everywhere on account of the great benefits they confer by the removal of insect- 
pests in the shape of the smaller gnats and flies. These, were they not kept in check 
by the Swallow Tribe, would render most parts of the world uninhabitable. Rarely seen 
upon the ground, save when procuring mud for the construction of their nests, the birds of 
this group are all peculiarly strong fliers, 
turning and twisting with the greatest 
speed and precision. All have very short 
beaks and wide mouths, long wings and 
tails, and small and weak feet. 
A large number build their nests of 
mud, collected in small pellets and held 
together by the secretion of the salivary 
glands. These nests are commonly more 
or less cup-shaped, and fastened under 
the eaves of dwelling-houses or other 
buildings, or placed on a convenient 
beam or other ledge. The Red-rumped 
Swallows and Fairy Martins — species 
enjoying an enormous distribution, 
being found in India, Africa, America, 
and Australia — build very large flask- 
shaped nests, having the entrance pro- 
duced into a funnel often eight or 
nine inches in length. Others, like the 
S.VNI)-M.A.RTIN, excavate long tunnels, ter- 
minating in larger chambers, in the faces 
of sand-banks — a performance which must 
certainly be regarded as wonderful, when 
one realises the feeble tools with which 
the task of e.xcavating has to be per- 
formed. Some species utilise the holes 
made by other birds, in one species this 
hole being itself bored within the burrow 
of the viscacha. 
I'huio oy Photo. Co. 
COMMON WRENS, WITH NEST BUILT IN 
PHEASANT’S SKELETON 
In ’winter •wrens ha-ve a custom of seeking some hole or other con-venient 
shelter and huddling together in small parties for the sake of •wamith 
Photo by y, Tc Newman 
A PAIR OF WRENS 
Kno’wn nearly e’verynvhere as the “ Kitty ” or “ Jenny ” Wren 
10 
