GRAY-BREASTED MARTIN 513 



always a few perched on the ridge of a nearby roof or garrulously 

 hovering over the deck. Proceeding inland by water or on foot one 

 will see them always present, where human habitations exist." 



Mr. Hartley has written a full chapter on the habits of the gray- 

 breasted martin, as observed by him at Kalacoon House, Hills Es- 

 tate, Mazaruni River, British Guiana. Most of what follows is 

 quoted or condensed from what he wrote. 



Courtship. — A female, he says, "would be sitting alone, awaiting 

 her mate by the prospective nest. Suddenly, after many beautiful 

 evolutions in the air, he would Join her, and their admiration for 

 one another was shown by wide open bills and a perfect babble of 

 warbles. They would sit thus for a few moments each with its 

 mouth open, or they snapped their bills at imaginary insects, as if 

 one were urging the other to feed it. Then each would seek to relieve 

 its feelings in flight, only to return later and repeat the whole per- 

 formance." 



Nesting. — The nestings operations are described as follows: 



A small box with four compartments had beeu erected a short time before, 

 ou a pole, with the hope that some of the birds would take advantage of it. 

 Immediately a pair of palm tanagers took possession. This was too much 

 for our pail* of martins, which at once — incited by jealousy and need for a new 

 home — drove away the tanagers and appropriated the partially completed nest 

 as their own. The occupation was not accomplished, however, without many 

 a scuffle with the original tenants and other pairs of martins who had nest- 

 ing ideas of their own. * * * 



In the meantime other pairs had commenced to build, selecting various por- 

 tions of the huge beams that acted as plates for Kalacoon house. The 

 nests were composed of sticks, straws, dried grass, string, cloth and anything 

 that would act as building material. They were placed back from the edge 

 of the beam usually in a comer next to a floor joist. * * * Unlike the 

 purple martin, the too near company of others was not desired and it went 

 Lard with the individual who inadvertently overstepped his neighbor's terri- 

 tory. * * * 



The Kalacoon martins commenced to lay about the first of April. Every 

 bird had been busy for the two preceding weeks collecting material, courting, 

 and fighting. Sometimes a dozen or more would gather on the ground in front 

 of the house and sort over the little twigs and dried grass blades lying there. 

 This always was attended with perfect harmony until two birds would de- 

 cide that they both liked the same stick. They resorted then to force in the 

 dispute that followed, and the fight would go on up in the air or down on 

 the ground, until both were exhausted. In the meantime the object of their 

 differences was usually spirited away by a third party. At any rate they 

 always forgot what they were fighting about and never returned to the spot 

 to look for it. 



He tried the experiment of marking, with blotches of black ink, 

 a set of eggs to see if the parents would recognize them ; they seemed 

 quite a little disturbed, but one of them finally settled on the eggs. 



