500 BULLETIN 17 9, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



prise I heard the calls of martins, and for a short time whenever there 

 were flashes of lightning I could see a number of these birds playing in 

 the air in advance of the dark clouds. The martins drifted by with the 

 storm, which was only of short duration." 



The purple martin is a fearless bird in defending its territory. 

 This characteristic has been noted for as long as man has had to do 

 with the species and accounts for his original desire to have the birds 

 as neighbors. The Indians and later the Negroes both induced mar- 

 tins to nest about their wigwams and cabins because of their readiness 

 to drive away any winged intruder that might attack poultry. Crows, 

 hawks, eagles, and vultures are quickly set upon and driven away, the 

 whole colony combining in a mass attack that rapidly puts the invader 

 to rout. Wilson (1831) says that the martin "also bestows an occa- 

 sional bastinading on the king bird when he finds him too near his 

 premises ; though he will, at any time, instantly co-operate with him 

 in attacking the common enemy." 



Another trait of the martin that has long attracted attention 

 and produced much writing is its communal roosting habit late in 

 summer, when the species gathers in great flocks preparatory to and 

 during migration. Concentrations up to 100,000 birds have been 

 noted, and the attendant noise sometimes results in such a nuisance 

 to people that direct efforts are made against the birds and many killed 

 through various methods. To some degree these roosts are a parallel 

 to those of the vanished passenger pigeon in that branches of trees 

 are broken by the weight of the birds and, as Arthur T. Wayne (1910) 

 puts it, "the noise produced by such a multitude resembled the sound 

 of escaping steam." In 1905 a huge roost at Wrightsville Beach 

 (near Wilmington), N. C, was attacked by irate citizens and 8,000 to 

 15,000 birds were killed. The North Carolina Audubon Society suc- 

 ceeded in convicting 12 of the offenders, who were fined. 



G. Clyde Fisher (1907) describes a roost near Quincy, Fla., which 

 he estimated to contain 5,000 birds and, like Wayne, was impressed 

 with the noise, which he also described, as being "much like escaping 

 steam." 



A typical roost, and a very well known one, was that at Cape May, 

 N. J., written of in detail by Witmer Stone (1937). Students should 

 peruse his account with great interest. It is too long to quote here, and 

 since 1936 the roost has been deserted not only by martins but by robins, 

 starlings, and grackles. However, it may sometime again be in- 

 stituted, and extracts of Stone's account are given herewith: 



For many years it [the roost] was located on the Physick property on the 

 principal street of the town. Here there is a grove of silver maples about thirty 

 feet in height and covering an area of some two acres, growing so close together 

 that their tops join one another, making a dense canopy with constant 

 shade. * ♦ * Were it not for this roost, the only one in South Jersey so 



