78 An Old Friend.

This is a picture of a very well-known bird—
the House-Martin. In habits, size, and shape it
resembles the common swallow, but may be dis-
tinguished by the white patch upon the lower
part of the back. In the dusk of evening, martins
may often be seen flying about at so late an

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

PDP a Ll

hour that they are only visible, as they dart past
you, by the white patches on their backs. They
are called house-martins because their nests,
which are of clay, are generally built in some
sheltered nook about the outside of a house;
often under the eaves cf the roof, and sometimes
—so trustful and fearless are they of human
beings—in the corner of a window