262 
HIRUNDINIDiE. 
This cannot arise altogether from the infamous perse¬ 
cution which they meet with from a set of idle vagabonds, 
calling themselves sportsmen, nor yet from any change 
in our climate, because they abound in latitudes further 
north. Mr. Wolley, writing from Muonioniska, in Swe¬ 
dish Lapland, says The House Martin is very abun¬ 
dant here. Round the court-yard of a peasant's house, I 
counted a hundred and sixty nests still remaining, al¬ 
though all those upon one side had lately fallen down. 
It is a general favourite ; and the people everywhere nail 
up narrow planks upon the walls to support the nests. 
There are often three or four rows, one above another, the 
boards being placed at such distance apart that there is 
just room for the nests between." 
Amongst the many natural beauties which surround the 
residence of Chatsworth, there was not one which pleased 
me so much as a large colony of Martins that have esta¬ 
blished themselves at one end of the building. Here the 
good taste of the owner has allowed them to remain un¬ 
molested ; and, many hundreds together, their evolutions 
add a most stirring cheerfulness to the scene. The Mar¬ 
tin builds its nest, as every one is aware, under the eaves 
of our houses and at the corner of our windows ; and, 
although apparently giving a preference to the walls of 
man's dwelling-place, against which it erects its own clay- 
built habitation, there are several places around our coast 
where numbers of Martins breed together, building their 
nests against the surface of the cliffs. In the north of 
Norway there is an island rock, known by the name of 
Torgliattan, remarkable for a broad and lofty tunnel, 
which passes through it from sea to sea. Whilst stand¬ 
ing midway amidst the heaps of rubbish which had fallen 
from its top, and admiring as well the vastness of this 
grand natural archway, as the singularly pleasing views 
