January. 1919] 



The Ottawa Naturalist 



121 



into the base of their plumage. As the sun gets 

 higher they make short flights here and there, amidst 

 a chorus of happy bubbling song. By the time the 

 office man is betaking himself to his daily 

 grind, the Martins bethink themselves of their serious 

 duties of life, and hie away for the day, over marsh- 

 land and meadow, field and stream, housetops or 

 country, until evening again calls them together. 

 Such are some of the attractions of Purple Martins 

 and the tale is not nearly exhausted. 



Purple Martins are the only birds we have that 

 will occupy a nesting box in colony. Other birds 

 that can be induced to come to artificial nest re- 

 ceptacles are solitary in their breeding habits and 

 impatient of close neighbours even when of their own 

 species. Hence it is useless to build bud houses of 

 more than one compartment for other species than 

 Martins. The rooms should be about six inches 

 square and about the same height. A little more or 

 less either way will not matter, but these sizes should 

 be approximated. The rooms should be entirely 

 separate from each other and not intercommunicat- 

 ing. They should be light, be draught and weather- 

 tight and have only a single entrance each, which 

 may be either round or square, one and three-quar- 

 ters of an inch and about one or one and a half 

 inches up from the floor. This last is important. A 

 perch or shelf, outside, on the level with the en- 

 trance, is objectionable as the young come out on it 

 before they can fly, and the natural crowding for 

 position is certain to precipitate some to the ground. 

 Such occurrences cause great disturbance and anxiety 

 to the whole colony, but I do not think that the 

 unfortunate victim of the accident is ever fed or 

 raised, even if the commotion does not attract the 

 watchful cat. A perch somewhat below the door, 

 wide enough to comfortably hold one or more grown 

 birds, is desirable, as Martins love to sit about, and 

 the more perches and shelves there are for this pur- 

 pose, the better they seem to like it and the more 

 attractive the colony is both from their viewpoint 

 and ours. The doors should be sheltered as much 

 as possible by over-hanging eaves and porches. 

 Driving rain beating into the nests of young birds 

 is a deadly enemy and, probably on this account, 

 the best sheltered entrances are most in demand. 

 In the house in the frontispiece the two upper floors 

 are always most in demand. Consequently, since the 

 picture was taken, additional porch shelters have been 

 placed over the lower entrances and it is expected 

 that these will make them more popular. The whole 

 house should be covered with a good, tight, weather- 

 proof roof. Dampness means cold and that is 

 death to young birds. It is also most advisable to 

 arrange the house to open so that after the birds 

 have left for the winter the rooms can be thoroughly 



cleaned out. During the infancy of the young, a 

 certain amount of house cleaning is attended to, but 

 later the birds have no time for such drudgery, and 

 the debris from a couple of season's occupancy will 

 leave little room within. The house should be 

 erected in the open, away from trees, or at least as 

 high as the top of closely adjoining buildings. 

 Ordinarily it should be from fourteen to twenty 

 feet from the ground, depending on surroundings, 

 high enough to allow free flight and manoeuvering 

 room about it. 



The materials of which the Martin or any other 

 bird house can be made may be varied to suit taste 

 or opportunity. Lightness, however, is desirable, 

 especially in a large house or in one that has to be 

 supported on a long unbraced pole, in the open, 

 in wind and storm. Light pine, Vs or Yz inch thick 

 is usually sufficient. For paint, it should preferably 

 be dressed, but rough stuff takes stain better and is 

 more in general keeping. The house in the frontis- 

 piece was built of beaver-board a heavy card- 

 board on a wooden frame and the roof and ex- 

 posed surfaces covered with cotton well painted 

 down. It has been up two seasons now and shows 

 no signs of deterioration that a brush-full of paint 

 will not remedy. Probably a better material is the 

 light wood of which orange crates are made. It 

 would probably be well to give the house a good coat 

 of black paint inside to prevent the light from glowing 

 through it. The support is a built-up box pole 

 hollow in the centre and set on a concrete base, as 

 shown in the details accompanying. The house 

 itself slides up and down the pole on counter 

 weighted cords running over common sash pulleys 

 in the top of the pole, with a heavy window weight 

 inside. A bag of sand would do as well for the 

 latter. This allows the house to be easily lowered 

 to remove trapped sparrows or to be cleaned. 

 Access IS gained to the weight box inside through 

 a removable section near the base. 



These are about all the rules necessary for the 

 erection of a successful Martin house. It may have 

 as many rooms as desired, the more the m.errier, 

 and the larger the colony may grow, but there 

 should at least be several; for Martins are sociable 

 and love the company of their kind. Bearing in 

 mind these requirements and the principles of good 

 taste previously mentioned, there are no reasons why 

 a Martin house that will be a constant source of 

 pleasure to the neighbourhood may not be built by 

 almost anyone. After such a house is once erected, 

 about all that can be done is to await its occupation 

 and meanwhile keep the sparrows out. They will 

 invariably occupy it if not prevented. One good 

 way to exclude them is to arrange entrances thai: 

 can be easily closed from below. Should sparrows 



