PURPLE MARTIN. 393 



In the Middle States, from the 15 th to the 20th of April, 

 the Martins begin to prepare their nest, which is usually made 

 of small green or dry leaves, straws, hay, and feathers, laid in 

 considerable quantities. They rear two broods in the season. 

 Several pairs also dwell harmoniously in the same box. The 

 male, very attentive to his sitting mate, also takes part in the 

 task of incubation ; and his notes at this time have apparently 

 a peculiar and expressive tenderness. 



The food of the Martin is usually the larger winged insects, 

 as wasps, bees, large beetles, such as the common Cctonias, or 

 goldsmiths, which are swallowed whole. His flight possesses 

 all the swiftness, ease, and grace of the tribe. Like the Swift, 

 he glides along, as it were, without exertion. Sometimes he is 

 seen passing through the crowded streets, eluding the passen- 

 gers with the rapidity of thought ; at others he sails among 

 the clouds at a dizzy height like something almost ethereal. 



The Purple Martin occurs tliroughout the Maritime Provinces, 

 though nowhere common, and is extremely local in its distribution. 

 It is rather rare near Quebec, but common at Montreal and 

 throughout Ontario. Observers in Winnipeg consider the bird 

 abundant there, and it is said to range north to the Saskatchewan 

 valley. It breeds from the Gulf States northward, and winters in 

 South America. 



Small colonies of these Martins are found scattered through 

 New England at widely separated localities, accepting, usually, the 

 proffered hospitality of friendly villagers who provide them with 

 homes, though an occasional coterie may be found nesting in the 

 primitive manner of their ancestors, — rearing their broods in 

 natural cavities of trees or in crevices of rocks, as was the custom 

 of their race before the Europeans led them into more Sybaritic 

 habits. 



Note. — The Cuban Martin (^Prague oyptoleiicd) is a summer 

 resident of southern Florida. 



