Martigny
three villages in Switzerland united under this name. Located in the Rhône valley S. of the E. end of Lake Geneva. Situated on the Simplon road into Italy. Pop. about 6,000.
MARTIN nest under the eaves of houses and barns, but it differs from the swallow in having a conspicious white band across the lower back. The sand martin (H. riparia) is pale brown above and white below. It hollows out galleries in the banks, where it nests and breeds. The sand martin and the house martin are both birds of passage, arriving in spring and departing toward the end of summer. Cypselus apus, the swift, is sometimes called the black martin. The purple martin of America is Hirundo (or Progne) purpurea. The plumage of the male is almost wholly steel-blue; the female is duller in color above, brownish-gray beneath. The fairy martin of Australia is Hirundo ariel.