182 The Sand Martin. — 
This is the smallest of our Swallow tribe, and also 
the least in number ; it resorts to high sand-hills that 
have been dug, leaving a perpendicular bank,’ and it 
is at such smooth places as these our eyes catch a 
number of small ses holes, about the size of rats’ 
burrows, which are made by the Sand Martin, and in 
them they build their nest and rear their offspring. 
The nest is carelessly constructed of pieces of straw, 
hay, and feathers, and usually contains five or six 
eggs. This bird is said to have but one brood in 
the year. The Sand Martin is very tame, and wil! 
continue going in and out of the cell even when a 
spectator is standing within thirty or forty yards of 
its colony, and a person can easily tell last year's 
birds from fresh comers, as the latter’s work is much 
harder than the old settlers’, who have their recesses 
already formed from years past, unless the high bank 
has been disturbed. These holes are made by rubbing 
off the sand with the sides of their beak, and moving 
round and round, throwing out the loose sand with 
their feet, until they are far enough in tp secure 
safety from the weather. I have known these nests 
