336 BIRDS OF ONTARIO. 



Family HIRUNDINID^. Swallows. 



Gexus PROGNE Boie. 



PROGNE SUBIS (Linn.). 



■2^-). Purple Martin. (<;il) 



Lustrous l)lue-l)lack ; the Jiniah and i/oiukj are much iluUei- ahove, ami 

 more or less white below, streaked with ^nay. Lciigtli, 7 <ii- move ; \\ing, 

 Jiearly 6 ; tail, 3i, simply forked. 



H.\B. — Temperate North America, south to Mexico. 



Nest, of hay, straw, l)its of twine and paper-, lined with feathers. 



Eggs, four or five, puie w hite, glossy, oblong, pointed at one end. 



The Purple Martin ai rives in Southern Ontario altout the 10th 

 ■of May, and though generally distributed i.s nowhere abundant. Its 

 original nesting place was in a knot-hole or other hollow in a tree, 

 but now, seeking the society of men, it raises its young in boxes put 

 up for its accommodation, or in the interstices of the Gothic archi- 

 tecture of our city buildings. 



Its flight is rapid and its aerial evolutions often extremely grace- 

 ful, while at othei" times it may be seen sailing, hawk-like, with very 

 little action of the wings. 



The Martins are general favorites in town and country, and are 

 made welcome everywhere. P>efore leaving in the fall they have a 

 grand gathering, which is thus descrilK'd In' T)i'. W'heaton in the 

 "Birds of Ohio": 



"After the breeding season is ovei-, these biids congregate towards 

 night in laige flocks, and having selected a suitable cornice on 

 some high liuilding, make preparations for spending the night. The 

 retiring ceremony is very complicated and formal, to judge from the 

 numVjer of times they alight and rise again, all the while keeping up 

 a noisy chatter. It is not until twilight deepens into evening that 

 all are huddled together in silence and slumber, and theii' slumbers 

 are often disturbed Ijy some youngster who falls out of bed, amid the 

 derisive laughter of his neighbors, which is changed to petulant 

 .scolding as lii' clambers over them to his perch, tumbling othei-s 

 down. All at once the scene of last night's disturbance is (]uiet 

 and deserted, for the birds have flown to unknown southern lands, 

 where they find le.ss crowded beds and shorter, warmer nights." 



It occurs in Manitol)a as a rare sunnner resident, and that seems 

 to be the northern limit of the species. 



