GRAY-BREASTED MARTIN 515 



or dull grayish black, slightly if at all glossed, the gray of anterior 

 under parts fading gradually into the white of posterior portions, 

 and inner web of exterior pair of rectrices with an indistinct dull 

 whitish or pale grayish subterminal spot on edge; sides and flanks 

 sometimes faintly tinged with pale brown." 



He says that the second year young male is "exactly like the adult 

 female in coloration," which, in turn, is not strikingly different from 

 the adult male, being duller and paler with the steel-blue gloss of 

 the upper parts less continuous and the forehead and crown more 

 sooty. 



Food. — Nothing seems to have been published on the food of this 

 martin, except what is mentioned above in the food of the young. 

 But it is fair to assume that, like other martins, it will capture what- 

 ever flying insects it can find available within its habitat. 



Behavior. — Mr. Hartley (Beebe, Hartley, and Howes, 1917) says 

 of the gray-breasted martins, as he observed them in British Guiana : 



They are extremely tame and unafraid and because of this courage and 

 pugnacity they are one of the most useful birds that gather about the home- 

 stead. No low flying hawk will for long withstand the vicious onslaughts of 

 the many martins that gather about him. Thus the life of many a seed-eating 

 finch and caterpillar-destroying wren has been preserved. 



The windows of Kalacoou house always remained open and soon after our 

 arrival several martins took advantage of this to roost on the rafters over 

 our heads, entering through a window close beneath the peak of the roof. 

 On the rare occasions when it had to be closed on account of the rain which 

 poured through in gusts, the birds gathered outside in numbers, some on the 

 sill and others on the eaves above, and tried to express their troubles in a loud 

 bubbling and chatter. Though there were other open windows nearby, they 

 never used them, but always, if their own private entrance were closed, sought 

 other roosting places for the night They roosted in pairs and never allowed 

 a third to encroach upon what they considered their own territory. 



DISTRIBUTION 



Range. — South and Central America; casual in the Rio Grande 

 Valley, Texas. 



This is a more or less nonmigratory species (of several subspecies) 

 that ranges north to Nayarit (San Bias) ; Coahuila (Sabinas) ; 

 Tamaulipas (Ciudad Victorio) ; Yucatan (Shkolak, Izamal, and 

 Chichen-Itza) ; British Guiana (Island of Trinidad and George- 

 town) ; Dutch Guiana (Paramaribo and Maroni River) ; French 

 Guiana (Cayenne) ; and northwestern Brazil (Island of Mixiana and 

 Para). East to Brazil (Para, Goyaz, and Rio Araguaya) ; Uruguay 

 (Rocha and Montevideo) ; and eastern Argentina (La Plata and 

 Cape San Antonio). South to central Argentina (Cape San An- 

 tonio, Cordoba, and Tucuman). West to northwestern Argentina 



