1
retired enclofure, and faces upon a large and beautiful lake. And
indeed this fpecies feems fo to delight in large waters, that no in-
ftance occurs of their abounding, but near vaft pools or rivers •
and in particular it has been remarked that they fwarm in the banks
■ .of the Thames in fome places below London-bridge.
It is curious to obferve with what different degrees of architectonic
lkill Providence has endowed birds of the fame genus, and
fo nearly-correfpondent in their general mode of life! forwhile
the fwallow and the houfe-martin difcover the greateft addrefs in -
railing and fecurelv fixing crufts or {hells of loam-Ss cunabula for
their young, the bank-martin terebrates a round and regular hole
in the fand or earth, which is ferpenti'ne, horizontal, and about
two feet deep. At the inner end of this burrow does this bird de-
pofit, in a good degree of fafety, her rude neft, confifting of fine
gralfes and feathers, ufually goofe-feathers, very inartificially!
laid together.
Perfeverance will accomplilh any thing : though at firft one'
would be difinclined to believe that this weak bird, with her foft
and tender bill and claws, Ihould ever be able to bore the ftubbom
fand-bank without entirely difabling herfelf: yet with thefe feeble
inflxuments have I feen a pair of them make great difpatch : and
could remark how much they had fcooped that day by the frelh
fand which ran down the bank, and was of a different colour from
that which lay loofe and bleached in the fun.
In what fpace of time thefe little artifts are able to mine and
finifh thefe cavities 'I have never been able to difcover, for reafons
given above; but it would be a matter worthy of obfervation,*
where it falls in the way of any naturalift to make his remarks.'
This I have often taken notice of, that feveral holes of different
depths are left unfinifhed at the end of fummer. : To imagine that
thefe
thefe beginnings were intentionally made in order to be in the
greater forwardnefs for next fpring, is allowing perhaps too much
forefight and rerum prudentia to a Ample bird. May not the caufe
of thefe latebra being left unfinifhed arife from their meeting
in thofe places with ftrata too harfh, hard, and folid, for their
purpofe, which they relinquifh, and go to a frefh fpot that works
more freely? Or may they not in other places fall in with a foil
as much too loofe and mouldering, liable to fiounder, and threaten-
ing to overwhelm them and their labours ? ^-sr
One thing is.remarkable— that, after feme years, the old holes are
forfaken and new ones bored; perhaps becaufe the old habitations
grow foul and fetid from longufe, or becaufe they may fo abound
with fleas as to become untenantable. This fpecies of fwallow
moreover is ftrangely annoyed with fleas : and we have feen fleas,
bed-fleas (pulex irritans), fwarming at the mouths of thefe holes,
like bees on the ftools of their hives.
The following circumftance fhould by no means be omitted
that thefe birds do not make ufe of their caverns by way of hyber-
nacula, as might be expefted; fince banks fo perforated have
been dug out with care in the winter, when nothing was found
but empty nefts. . ,
The fand-martin arrives much about the fame time with the
fwallow; and lays, as fhe does, from four to fix white eggs. But
as this fpecies is cryptogame, carrying on the bufinefs o f mdification,
incubation, and the fupport of it’s young in the dark, it would
not be fo eafy to afcertain the time of breeding, were it not for the
coming forth of the broods, which appear much about the- time,
or rather fomewhat earlier than thofe of the fwallow. The nefthngs
are fupportedin common like thofe of thefe congeners, with gnats
and other fmall infe&s; and fometimes they are fed with hbelluhe
A a (dragon