104 NOKTH AMERICAN OOLOGY. PAKT I. 



tree. The following season, a martin-house was prepared for them, of which they 

 immediately took possession. 



During the breeding season, the Purple Martin is one of the most widely diffused 

 of North American birds. It is found throughout the Union, in every State, from 

 Louisiana to the Canadas. It was met with by Mr. Harris as far to the westward 

 as the mouth of the Yellowstone River. It even extends its migrations to the ex- 

 treme verge of Northern civilization. Sir John Richardson speaks of it as arriving 

 within the Arctic Circle earlier than the others of its tribe. It makes its first ap- 

 pearance about Great Bear Lake as early as the 17th of May, when the ground is 

 covered with snow, and the rivers and lakes are ice-bound. Dr. "Woodhouse found it 

 abundant in Texas and the Indian Territory, Dr. Townsend in Oregon, and Mr. 

 Lembeye and Dr. Gundlach give it as a common bird in Cuba. It is found in every 

 one of the LTnited States, unless in California its place is occupied exclusively by its 

 relative, Prague chalylea, and that species has been mistaken for it. 



In the Southern States it raises three broods in a season ; in its more northern 

 resorts, the shortness of the season permits but one. In the maritime portion of 

 Massachusetts, the Martins are less numerous now than formerly, though still abun- 

 dant in the interior. This is attributable to the destruction of a large number of 

 these birds, several years since, by an unusually cold and inclement season, in which 

 both old and young suffered alike. But few escaped. It is probable their empty 

 boxes would all have been reoccupied by new-comers ere this, had not the White- 

 bellied Swallows of the neighborhood availed themselves of the occasion to desert 

 their hollow trees and take possession of the vacant martin-boxes. These they 

 have never since relinquished. The early migrations of the Martins expose them 

 to frequent suffering, and even destruction, from unfavorable changes in the weather, 

 as, notwithstanding the high parallels to which they penetrate, they do not appear 

 to be a hardy bird. 



The Purple Martin prepares a loosely-arranged nest, which is composed of various 

 materials, such as fine leaves both dry and green, straw, hay, slender twigs, pieces of 

 cloth, rags, &c. The whole is warmly lined with feathers and other soft materials. 

 Each year it is repaired or reconstructed, with material additions, until successive 

 seasons gather quite an accumulation. The eggs are uniform in color and shape, 

 and do not vary much in size. They are rather small in proportion to the size of 

 the bird. Their color is a pure cream-white, without spots. One end is much 

 smaller and more pointed than the other. Their average measurements are {f of 

 an inch in length by -i-J- in their greatest breadth. 



