MARTIN. 
263 
through each of its mouths, seaward and inshore, we 
noticed some hundreds of Martins" nests, plastered against 
the irregularities of its roof, from which the owners were 
passing in and out in quick succession. 
The nest of the Martin is composed of mud, rendered 
more adhesive by the mixture of small bits of straw; 
and, as observed by White, it is provident enough not to 
advance it too fast, but, by building only in the morning, 
gives it sufficient time to harden, lest, while soft, its own 
weight pull it down. Mr. Couch says, “ I have known 
them neglect a fine morning, and carry on the work 
through the afternoon, from no other apparent reason 
than the facility of procuring mortar at that period from 
a small distance, in a place which, in the morning, was 
covered with the tide/" The lining of the nest is of fine 
grass and feathers. The eggs four or five in number. 
