13© Bird -Lore 



noisy ways, heard usually when they have gone into their chambers, is a sort 

 of subdued chuckle, with sound suggestive of the grinding of molars, that seems 

 to be an expression of good feeling and contentment. 



Such are some of their usual notes, but there is one other that is perhaps best 

 of all. This is their loud, clear, exultant call, uttered when the bird is perched, 

 with an air of great alertness, when his fellows are cleaving the air for the sheer 

 pleasure of artistic flying — the ringing 'come-home' call and the joyous welcome 

 to the swift flyer that is first to reach the goal. 



III. THE SIZE OF ROOMS IN MARTIN-BOXES 



By J. J. SHERIDAN, St. Joseph. Mo. 



It seems to me some steps should be taken to unify sentiment on building 

 bird-nesting boxes for Purple Martins. An exhibition of bird-boxes being held 

 at our public library this week shows the greatest variety of ideas as to the 

 proper size to construct these boxes, one handsome structure containing forty 

 apartments had the rooms 3^ x 5 inches in dimensions, while another had them 

 about 10 inches each way. That this condition should be corrected in some 

 manner goes without saying, but the leading authorities are as widely apart. 

 For example, in your January-February issue of 1914, a writer on 'How to 

 Start a Purple Martin Colony' says the rooms should be 8 x 8 x 10 inches, 

 while Mr. Ned Dearborn, a Government expert, says the rooms should be 

 6x6x6 inches. An authority on the subject says the Purple Martin is 7.8 

 inches in length. If this is a fact, then it stands to reason a room should be at 

 least large enough to admit the entire bird, and 8x8 inches would be none too 

 large. There is no doubt but the bird will adapt himself to 6 x 6-inch quarters 

 if he can do no better, but he will abandon the restricted quarters when he 

 can find rooms large enough to accommodate him. I can recall several 

 instances where this has happened. My boxes are built with rooms 8x8x6 

 inches, and I think this compromise will come as near meeting the require- 

 ments of the birds as any size I have seen mentioned — at least my colonies 

 stay with the boxes, and that is a good argument. 



IV. HIGH MORTALITY AMONG THE PURPLE MARTINS IN 

 WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA DURING APRIL, 1917 



By THOS. L McCONNELL, McKeesport, Pa. 



The old saying about the arrival of spring birds bringing good weather has 

 no foundation upon actual facts. The warm spell in March, 191 7, brought 

 back the Purple Martins ahead of time, and the subsequent cold rainy weather 

 almost annihilated the early migrants. Insectivorous birds that feed, like the 

 Swallows, entirely on the wing and not ofT the trees or on the ground, require 

 warm, fair weather. 



