PURPLE MARTIN 507 



DISTRIBUTION 



Range. — North and South America. 



Breeding range. — The purple martin nests north to southern Brit- 

 ish Cokimbia (Nanaimo and Vancouver) ; central Alberta (Edmon- 

 ton and Camrose) ; central Saskatchewan (Prince Albert and Quill 

 Lake) ; southern Manitoba (Lake St. Martin and Shoal Lake) ; south- 

 ern Ontario (Kenora, Sault Ste. Marie, and Ottawa) ; southern Que- 

 bec (Montreal, Quebec, and Kamouraska) ; New Brunswick (Chat- 

 ham) ; and Prince Edward Island (Brackley Point and Pictou). The 

 eastern limits of the range are the Atlantic coast from Prince Edward 

 Island (Pictou) south to southern Florida (Fort Lauderdale). On 

 the south the range extends westward from southern Florida (Fort 

 Lauderdale and Fort Myers) along the Gulf coast to southern Texas 

 (Columbia and Rio Grande City); Guanajuato (Guanajuato and 

 Celaya) ; Jalisco (Lagos, Guadalajara, and Etzatlan) ; Nayarit (San- 

 tiago) ; and southern Baja California (San Jose del Cabo). The 

 western limits are along the Pacific coast from Baja California (San 

 Jose del Cabo, La Paz, and El Rayo) north to southwestern British 

 Columbia (Victoria and Nanaimo). 



Winter range. — During the winter season these birds are apparently 

 concentrated chiefly in the Amazon Valley of Brazil (Manaqueri, 

 Barra do Rio Negro, and Itaituba). They have been found also at 

 this season in the coastal regions of Brazil (San Luiz, Rosario, Rio 

 de Janeiro, and Iguape). One banded (B-219327) at Winona, Minn., 

 in May 1934 was recovered in December 1936 near Para, Brazil. 



The range as outlined is for the species, which has been separated 

 into eastern and western forms. The common purple martin {Progne 

 sibbis suhis) is the race found in the United States and Canada ; the 

 western martin {P. s. hesperia) breeds only in Baja California. Its 

 winter range has not yet been discovered. 



Spring migration. — Early dates of spring arrival in the United 

 States and Canada, are: Florida — Orlando, January 27; Pensacola, 

 February 5. Georgia — Savannah, February 21. South Carolina — 

 Charleston, February 16. North Carolina — Raleigh, March 16. Dis- 

 trict of Columbia — Washington, March 9. Pennsylvania — Philadel- 

 phia, March 11. New Jersey — ^Vineland, March 29. New York — 

 Shelter Island, April 12. Connecticut — Jewett City, April 2. Massa- 

 achusetts — Boston, April 6. Vermont — Rutland, April 10. Maine — 

 Lewistom, April 12. New Brunswick— Scotch Lake, April 21. Que- 

 bec — Quebec City, April 30. Louisiana — New Orleans, January 31. 

 Arkansas — Helena, February 18. Tennessee — Knoxville, March 15. 

 Missouri— St. I^uis, March 15. Illinois — Olney, March 3. Indiana- 

 Fort Wayne, March 19. Ohio— Youngstown, March 16. Michi- 

 gan — Ann Arbor, March 16. Ontario — Toronto, April 6. Iowa — 



