STRANGE DWELLINGS, 
190 
the heat of the sunbeams soon renders the clay too stiff to be 
worked by the delicate beaks of the birds ; and, therefore, in j 
the middle of the day, the Fairy Martins cease from their 
architectural labours, and do nothing but chase flies. During 
wet weather, however, when no flies are abroad, and the air is 
full of moisture, the birds work continually at their nests, and 
soon complete their labours. 
The exterior of the nest is quite as rough as that of the I 
common English Martin ; but in the interior it is beautifully | 
smooth. The birds do not seem to have any particular care ! 
about the point of the compass towards which the entrance 
looks, but arrange it indifferently in any direction. 
The Fairy Martin is a prolific little bird, laying four or five 
eggs, and rearing two broods in a year. 
We have several builders among our British birds, the best i 
known of which is the common House Martin ( Chelidon urbica), 
whose nests are so plentiful upon the walls of our houses. 
The material of which the nests are built is a kind of mud, 
which becomes tolerably hard when dry, and is strong enough 
to exist for a series of years, and to serve for the bringing up of 
many successive broods. The bird is exceedingly capricious 
as to the spot which it selects for its residence, some houses j 
being crowded with the mud-built nests, while others are free I 
from them. The points of the compass are always noted by 
the Martin, for there are some points which it clearly detests, 
while it is equally fond of others. A wall with a north-eastern I 
aspect is a favourite locality, while a southern wall is seldom j 
chosen, probably because the heat of the meridian sun might 
dry the mud too quickly, or might cause inconvenience to the 
young birds. 
My own house, however, forms an exception to this general 
rule, for the Martins have chosen to build on the south wall 
only, probably because the eaves project so far that after nine 
a.m. the nests are in shadow. Moreover, there is a narrow 
ledge, barely an inch in width, which runs under the eaves, and 
forms a support for the nests. While the Martins were engaged 
