And I have not only seen
them nesting in the Borough, but even in the Strand and Fleet-
street; but then it was obvious from the dinginess of their aspect
that their feathers partook of the filth of that sooty atmosphere.
Martins are by far the least agile of the four species; their wings
and tails are short, and therefore they are not capable of such
surprising turns and quick and glancing evolutions as the swallow.
Accordingly they make use of a placid easy motion in a middle
region of the air, seldom mounting to any great height, and never
sweeping long together over the surface of the ground or water.
They do not wander far for food, but affect sheltered districts, over
some lake, or under some hanging wood, or in some hollow vale,
especially in windy weather. They breed the latest of all the
swallow kind: in 1772 they had nestlings on to October the twenty-
first, and are never without unfledged young as late as Michaelmas.
As the summer declines the congregating docks increase in
numbers daily by the constant accession of the second broods, till
at last they swarm in myriads upon myriads round the villages on
the Thames, darkening the face of the sky as they frequent the aits
of that river, where they roost.
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