Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 15.djvu/609

M A R M A R 581 Built in 1232 by Raymond Berenger, cotint of Provence, Martigues was made a viscountship by Joanna I., queen of Naples. Henry IV. made it a principality, in favour of a princess of the house of Luxembourg. It afterwards passed into the hands of the duke of Villars. MARTIN 1 (French, Martinet], the Ilirundo itrlica of Linnaeus and CMidon iirbica of modern ornithologists, a bird very well known throughout Europe, including even Lapland, where it is abundant, retiring in winter to the south of Africa. 2 It also inhabits the western part of Asia, and appears from time to time in large flocks in India ; but the boundaries of its range and those of at least one of its Eastern congeners cannot as yet be laid down. The Martin (or House-Martin, as it is often called, to distinguish it from the Sand-Martin presently to be mentioned) com monly reaches its summer-quarters a few days later than the SWALLOW (q.v.), whose habits its own so much resemble that heedless persons often disregard the very perceptible differences between them, the Martin s white rump and lower parts being conspicuous as it flies or clings to its "loved mansionry" attached to our houses, for, as Shakespeare wrote " No jutty, frieze, Buttress, nor coign of vantage, but this bird Hath made his pendent bed and procreant cradle." Macbeth, act i. sc. 6. This nest, made of the same material as the Swallow s, is, however, a far more difficult structure to rear, and a week or more is often occupied in laying its foundations the builders clinging to the wall while depositing the mud of which it is composed. But, the base once securely fixed, the superstructure is often quickly added till the whole takes the shape of the half or quarter of a hemisphere, and a lining of soft feathers, mixed with a few bents or straws, fits it for its purpose. The Martin sets about building very soon after its return, and a nest that has outlasted the winter s storms is almost at once reoccupied ; though if a new nest be needed its construction often involves great delay, for any excess of wet or drought retards the operation, nnd the work is generally placed in such an exposed situa tion that heavy driving rains will frequently wash away the half-dried walls. However, the bird mostly perseveres against these and other untowardnesses, contriving in the course of the summer to raise a second or, rarely, a third brood of offspring though it is certain that the latest broods often die in the nest apparently through failure of food. Yet what seem to be adults of this species are observed in England every year so late as November, and there are several instances of its appearance within a few days of the winter solstice ; but it is to be remarked that these late birds are almost certainly strangers, and not natives of the locality in which they are seen. The Sand-Martin, Ilirundo riparia of Linnasus and Cot He riparia of modern writers, differs much in appearance and habits from the former. Its smaller size, mouse- coloured upper surface, and jerking flight ought to render it easily recognizable from the other British Ilirundinidx ; but through carelessness it is seldom discriminated, and, being the first of the Family to return to its northern home, the "early Swallow" of newspaper- writers would seem to be nearly always of this species. Instead of the clay-built nest of the House-Martin, this bird bores, with a degree of regularity and an amount of labour rarely excelled in its Class, horizontal galleries in a natural or 1 The older English form, Martlet (French, Martelet), is, except in heralds language, almost obsolete, and when used is now applied in some places to the SWIFT (q.v. ). 2 Since the publication of the account of this species in Yarrell s Hfitish Jlirds (ed. 4, ii. p. 354), Mr Gurney has informed the writer of a specimen obtained out of a migratory flock flying very high on the Qua qua river, lat. 19 10 S., by the expedition of Messrs Jameson and Ay res, 23d October 1880. artificial escarpment. When beginning its excavation, it clings to the face of the bank, and with its bill loosens the earth, working from the centre outwards, assuming all sorts of positions as often as not hanging head downwards. The form of the boring and its length depend much on the nature of the soil ; but the tunnel may extend to 4, G, or even 9 feet. The gallery seems intended to be straight, but inequalities of the ground, and especially the meeting with stones, often cause it to take a sinuous course. At the end is formed a convenient chamber lined with a few grass stalks and feathers, the latter always beautifully arranged, and upon them the eggs are laid. The Sand-Martin has several broods in the year, and is much more regular than other Hirundinidx in its departure for the south. The kind of soil needed for its nesting- habits makes it a somewhat local bird ; but no species of the Order Passercs has a geographical range that can com pare with this. In Europe it is found nearly to the North Cape, and thence to the Sea of Okhotsk. In winter it visits many parts of India, and South Africa to the Transvaal territory. In America its range is even more extraordinary, extending (due regard being of course had to the season of the year) from Melville Island to Cai^ara in Brazil, and from Newfoundland to Alaska. The Purple Martin of America, 3 Ilirundo or Progne pwymrea, requires some remarks as being such a favourite bird in Canada and in the United States. Naturally breeding in hollow trees, it readily adapts itself to the nest-boxes which are very commonly set up for its accom modation ; but its numbers are in some years and places subject to diminution in a manner which has not yet been satisfactorily explained. The limits of its range in winter are not determined, chiefly owing to the differences of opinion as to the validity of certain supposed kindred species found in South America ; but according to some authorities it reaches the border of Patagonia, while in summer it is known to inhabit lands within the Arctic Circle. The male is almost wholly of a glossy steel-blue, while the female is much duller in colour above, and beneath of a brownish-grey. Birds that may be called Martins 4 occur almost all over the world except in New Zealand, which is not regularly inhabited by any member of the Family. The ordinary Martin of Australia is the Ilirundo or Hylochelidon nigricans of most ornithologists, and another and more beautiful form is the Ariel or Fairy-Martin of the same country, Ilirundo or Layenoplastes ariel. This last builds of mud a bottle-shaped nest, as does also the Rock-Martin of Europe, Ilirundo or Biblis rupestris; but space fails wherein to tell more of these interesting birds. (A. N.) MARTIN, ST, bishop of Tours, was born of heathen parents at Sabaria (Stein am Anger] in Pannonia, about the year 316. When ten years of age he became a catechumen, and at fifteen, contrary to his own inclination, he entered the army. It was while he was stationed at Amiens that he divided his cloak with the beggar, and on the following night had the vision of Christ making known to his angels this act of charity to Himself on the part of "Martinus, still a catechumen." Soon afterwards he received baptism, and, two years later, having been per mitted to leave the army, he joined Hilary of Poitiers, who wished to make him a deacon, but at his own request ordained him to the humbler office of an exorcist. _ In the course of the years that followed he undertook a journey to Pannonia for the purpose of converting his parents, and was successful in bringing his mother within the pale of 3 In 1840 an example is said to have been killed at Kingstown in Ireland, the skin of which is in the Dublin Museum of Science and Art. 4 The Martin of French colonists (in the Old World) is an Acn-

dotheres, one of the STARLINGS (q.v,).