What appears to me the most singular feature in this case is, that the sparrow would remain in the nest, and allow itself to be entombed alive. But this bird was sitting on the full complement of eggs, probably in the last stage of incubation, at which period we know that some birds leave the nest only to procure such a scanty morsel as will barely support life. Occasionally, at such times, they allow themselves to be lifted off their eggs, and when placed on again, continue to sit as intently as if they had not been disturbed. The filling up of the aperture is not in itself a singular proceeding on the part of the martin; but on this occasion, when the assistance of their neighbours was called in, would almost seem to be intended as an act of retributive justice on the sparrow. Their building against the side of the old nest is quite a common occurrence.

*

I have heard the call of this species exerted, to the no little annoyance of persons engaged in the cruel task of pulling down their nests, when the sufferers become as vociferous as their "weak voices" will permit, and thereby attract their neighbours from all quarters. These make common cause with them, by endeavouring to deter the spoiler from his work of destruction, "occasionally flying boldly, and at the risk of their lives, within reach of his outstretched hand, and again, with all the eloquence they can master, seeming most piteously to claim the edifice as theirs." Martins are generally silent birds, but when congregrated for migration, their call is often almost incessantly uttered.

* Mr. Blackwall, in his Researches in Zoology, states, that a pair of martins, on returning in the spring to the nest of the preceding year, endeavoured to dislodge the bodies of their young, which had been deserted; but finding their efforts in vain, "closed up the aperture with clay, thus converting the nest into a sepulchre."

† Audubon (Ann. of Lyc., vol. i. p. 165) mentions a similar trait in the history of an American species, Hirundo fulva, in the following words :-"The energy with which they defended their nests was truly astonishing. Although I had taken precaution to visit their nests at sunset, when I had supposed they would all have been on the sycamores, yet a single female happened to be sitting, and she gave the alarm, which immediately called out the whole tribe. They snapped at my hat, my body, and my legs, passed between me and the nests within an inch of my face, twittering their rage and sorrow. They continued their attacks as I descended, and accompanied me some distance."

This species generally rears two broods during its sojourn. Once, as late as the 23rd of September, several old birds were observed to fly so repeatedly to their nests, that I had no doubt these at the time contained young.* The second brood is generally reared in the same nest as the first, but it is probable, that when the nest is not found suitable for the purpose, a second erection is undertaken, as on the 17th of July, I remarked seven nests in front of a house, which, in the month of October, contained nine.

Mr. White's remark (Hist. of Selborne, letter 18), that the young swallows "at once associate with the first broods of the housemartins, and with them congregate, clustering on sunny roofs, towers, and trees," is quite in accordance with my observation in Ireland. I have, more than once, noticed the martin in company with the swallow in autumn, at places remote from its breedinghaunts. On the 6th of September, 1832, immense numbers of both species were in company at the Falls, and flying so close to the ground as occasionally to stop for a moment, apparently to take their food from the very grass. They also alighted in multitudes on the fruit trees in the garden, and notwithstanding their decided predilection for perching on dead branches, they on this occasion chose especially for that purpose, two large cherry-trees in full foliage. Amongst these birds appeared a solitary sandmartin, a bird, which, as well as the house-martin, was never before seen about the place, and near to which neither species builds. From observing the swallow and the martin thus congregated for some time previous to migration, I have little doubt, great as is the disparity in their powers of flight, that they often leave the country together; indeed both species have been observed to alight in company on vessels very far out at sea.t

Respecting the separate migration of the martin, it may be

* In a note contributed to Mr. Bennett's edition of White's Selborne, p. 61, a particular instance is detailed of a pair of martins remaining behind for the purpose of bringing forward their progeny, instead of migrating with the great body of their companions. That the young are often deserted at such times by their parents, has been fully proved by Mr. Blackwall.

+C. L. Bonaparte, in Zool. Journ.; and Bloxham, in Mag. Nat. Hist.

mentioned, that on the 24th of September, 1834, I observed an unusually large colony of these birds congregated at Toome bridge, no other species of Hirundo being in the vicinity. On the 8th of October, when riding near Belfast, a very strong south-west wind prevailing, about twenty martins in a loose flock flew across the road, and proceeded for some time against the wind, at not more than from fifteen to twenty yards' distance from the ground. Probably, owing to the wind being too strong against them, they at length wheeled round, and rose very rapidly until they attained a great elevation. While in the act of mounting still higher, they disappeared from my sight, having all the time the wind with them. These birds were believed to be migrating. Feeling the effects of a powerful contrary wind, they may (as some persons believe the Hirundines generally do,) have ascended thus high in search of a more favourable current. On this occasion, however, the clouds, which were moderately high, were borne onwards in the same direction as the wind that swept the earth.

The martin is generally stated to remain in England to a later period than the swallow, but I do not recollect any year in which the swallow was not the last of its genus to depart from the north of Ireland. Mr. Poole mentions his having seen the house-martin near Wexford, so late as the 3rd of November in one year, and the 16th in another (1847): a swallow was seen by him on this day also. On the 1st of November, 1846, a martin appeared at Holywood, co. Down; and a swallow, on the 16th of that month, at the same place. At Seaview, on the borders of Belfast bay, so late as the 20th of November, 1845, I, for a long time saw three of the Hirundines disporting themselves. They were either H. urbica or young H. rustica, I felt all but certain, the former species, though the white plumage above the tail was not distinctly seen. They had not the long tail-feathers, but the size and mode of flight indicated their species: on the 28th of this month, a friend observed, at the same place, an adult H. rustica possessing these feathers. Mr. Hyndman, when at Tory island, off the north of Donegal, in August, 1845, was shown a specimen of

H. urbica, said to have been killed by flying against the glass of the light-house there, in December, 1844.

My observation on the house-martin in Ireland, being in unison with that of Shakespeare, who tells us that

it was unexpectedly that several of them met my view, about one or two solitary houses, situated near the highest and bleakest part of the road between Harrogate and Bolton Abbey, in Yorkshire, on the 6th of October, 1844; I subsequently learned with surprise, from Sir Wm. Jardine, that the house-martin is a sub-alpine species, where it has come under his observation in Dumfries-shire. When on a visit at Jardine Hall, in October, 1845, he called my attention to its nests about the windows of the dwelling-house at Rammerscales, situated near the summit of the fine range of hills dividing the valleys of the Nith and Annan. He mentioned also its building at the toll-house at Tweedshaws-near the source of the Tweed-about the highest part of the road crossing the lofty Moffat hills, and where, in one of the windows, I afterwards saw three nests. The whole country around is very bleak and wild.

In the spring and summer of 1841, I observed the housemartin as follows:-When sailing from Malta to the Morea, and about fifty miles from Cape Passaro (the nearest land), on the 23rd of April, one of these birds flew into the cabin, and died soon afterwards: it had not met with any molestation on board. No more were seen until the morning of the 27th, when, nearly one hundred miles west of the Morea, a few appeared, and remained through the early part of the day, confining their flight to the lee side of the ship: in the afternoon still more were seen, hawking about in company with H. rustica; as flies were numerous, they probably obtained plenty of food: at four o'clock P.M., all were gone. On the 30th of April, this species had just commenced nest-building against the houses in the town of Navarino; in May, was common about Smyrna; in June, at Patras, where as usual, it was building against the houses in the town. At Trieste, in the same month, the house-martin was numerous, as it likewise was in July, about Venice, Verona, and Milan;—having in the last city fine nesting-places about the magnificent Arch of

Peace, its "cradle" being supported on the sculptured leaves adorning the ceiling of the gateway. This notice, compared with that of the swallow, as seen during the same tour, shows that as in our own northern climate, the H. rustica is much more generally distributed than the H. urbica.

The most complete history of this species, as observed in the British islands, appears in the third volume of Macgillivray's British Birds, where the author and his contributors, Mr. Hepburn and Mr. Weir, treat very fully of it from personal observation; the two latter gentlemen having watched the progress of nestbuilding, frequency of feeding young, &c., with the most praiseworthy and extraordinary patience.

THE SAND-MARTIN.

Hirundo riparia, Linn.

Is a regular summer visitant.

As the swallow is much more abundant than the house-martin in Ireland, so again is this bird considerably more numerous than the sand-martin. Owing to the nature of its haunts, it is in all countries a local species. It resorts to suitable places in all quarters of this island.

The sand-martin arrives the earliest of the Hirundinida in the north of Ireland, appearing occasionally at the latter end of the month of March. In 1828, several were observed in a mountainous situation, near Belfast, on the 29th of that month, and when pointed out to the respectable farmer, at whose place they appeared, he assured us they had been seen there about a week before that time. In the very late spring of 1836, they did not appear until a month after the usual period, and very few even then. The dates of their arrival in the neighbourhood of Belfast, in the last few years, are:-in 1842, (a remarkably late season) the 25th of April, when they at once appeared in numbers at their chief haunt, about forty being on wing over one part of the sand-pit, and thirty over another: on the 23rd of April, there was not one, so that the whole colony appeared to have