Notes from Field and Study 



117 



to build their next nest in another room 

 of bird-house. 



April 16. Nest removed (no eggs).*t. 



April 19. A new nest and one egg 

 removed from another room. The work 

 of the same pair of persistent Sparrows. 



April 23. Nest and two eggs removed. 



April 25. Nest removed from attic 

 room of bird-house. t 



May 2. Nest and three eggs removed. 



May 6. Nest and one egg removed. 



May 9. Same old story (another nest 

 and egg). 



May 12. The original pair of Sparrows 

 fight and drive off a second pair that 

 attempt to build in box. 



May 13. Nest and egg removed. 



May 14. Egg found in box in a mere 

 shell of a nest. (Bird evidently hadn't 

 time to build much of a nest.) 



May 16. Nest removed.*! 



May 20. Large nest and two eggs 

 removed. 



May 22. Nest removed.*! 



May 23. Nest and one egg removed. • 



May 25. Nest removed.*! 



May 27. Flock of six to eight Purple 

 Martins visit box in p.m. (This news 

 reported by next-door neighbor.) 



May 28. One pair of immature Martins 

 stay around box all day. At 7.25 a.m., 

 before leaving for work, the writer saw 

 his first Martin on bird-house. 



May 29. Bird-house lowered in the 

 absence of pair of Martins (about 5.30 

 P.M.) and Sparrow's nest removed. 



First week of June. — The pair of Mar- 

 tins commence to build nest. Both birds 

 assisting in carrying nesting materials, 

 sticks, grass, leaves, etc. (The box cannot 

 be lowered any more, but fortunately the 

 Sparrows seem to have yielded to the 

 Martins.) 



June 20. An energetic immature Mar- 

 tin (making three regular occupants of 

 box) commences to build a nest (its mate 

 not seen). Sex of bird probably female. 



June 23. Colony now numbers two 



*tVVhen the bird-house was lowered, very often 

 the eggs would ro ll fr om the nests and out of_the 

 entrance. Thus_sqme_of the eg gs may have been 

 lost in the grass and weeds, although most of them 

 were found and recorded. 



pairs. (The odd bird having brought 

 home a mate.) Transients, solitary 

 Martins, appear from time to time, but 

 seldom spend more than one or two 

 nights in box. Every day since May 27, 

 visiting Martins to the number of two to 

 twelve come daily to box. and fierce 

 encounters occur between the regular 

 occupants and visitors. 



July 29. Both pairs of Martins desert 

 their nests, but visit box on July 30 and 

 31, and about Aug. i. Martins leave 

 bird-house for the last time. 



Several days later the bird-house was 

 lowered, and one nest (of pair to build 

 first) was found empty, while the other 

 contained two eggs, which were addled. 

 No young birds had been seen, although, 

 from their actions, the first pair were 

 feeding young birds for a couple of days 

 about the time young should have been 

 hatched. Possibly the young were killed 

 by the pair of English Sparrows, which 

 persisted in annoying the Martins in 

 many ways. 



This is typical of the early experience 

 of persons starting colonies of House 

 Martins, and shows how our jolly Swal- 

 lows suffer from depredations of the 

 English Sparrow. The colony, next year, 

 will swell in numbers from one or two 

 pairs (the original pairs) the first week of 

 April, until the bird-house is well filled 

 and, less trouble will be experienced from 

 the Sparrow pests. 



Everyone should put up bird-houses 

 for the Purple Martins, and they will 

 come, provided the Sparrows are kept 

 out. — Thomas L. McConnell, McKees- 

 port, Pa. 



The Chickadee of Chevy Chase 



In the January-February, 1914, num- 

 ber of Bird-Lore (page 39), the species 

 of Chickadee observed in Chevy Chase 

 is questioned. On that day (Dec. 21) we 

 saw only the Northern Chickadee {Pen- 

 thestes atricapillus). This species has been 

 very common in Chevy Chase since early 

 in December^much more common in 

 fact than Parus carolinensis, and I have 



