362 THE BLACK MARTIN. 



especially his language while on the wing Some seven 

 inches long, wing six inches, tail slightly forked, this species 

 appears large for one of his kind. 



The mature male is *' lustrous blue-black" all over. The 

 female and young have a rather dull modification of the 

 color above, being more or less white below, streaked and 

 spotted with gray. 



Undoubtedly this species originally bred in holes in trees, 

 and it is occasionally known to do so still. Now, however, 

 it appropriates a hole in the house-cornice, a bird-box, or 

 an apartment of the dove-house. The ''solitary Indian" 

 of the olden times trimmed the boughs from a sapling 

 near his wigwam or rude cabin, "leaving the prongs a foot 

 or two in length, on each of which he hung a gourd, or 

 calabash, properly hollowed out," for the bird's convenience. 

 Later still, on the banks of the Mississippi, the negroes 

 stuck up "long canes, with the same species of apartment 

 fixed to their tops, in which the Martins regularly bred." 

 If rude and savage breasts discover such cordiality toward 

 this bird, what wonder if civilization and refinement attract 

 it by miniature houses, especially since the species follows 

 man to the populous village and the crowded town, and is 

 not disturbed even by the thoroughfares of business. 



The breeding tenement adopted by the Martin is fitted 

 up with a nest of bits of straw, hay, and dry leaves, lined 

 with feathers. The eggs, some .95x-'i'0, rather small for 

 the size of the bird, are pure white. Thus the nest and 

 eggs of the Martin bear a close resemblance to those of the 

 White-bellied Swallow. 



Its bill is "very stout" for a Swallow, and is " cur\'ed at 

 the end." Its bill of fare is by no means confined to the 

 tiny insects so abundantly captured by the smaller Swal- 

 lows, but includes "wasps, bees, large beetles," etc. 



