INTRODUCTION. 



Before the advent of the English Sparrow in this community, 

 the Purple Martin found numerous friends and admirers among 

 the people, who encouraged it by erecting beautiful bird-houses 

 for its accommodation. It had a winged foe, at that time, 

 in the Bluebird, who fought it from its home ; but the interrup- 

 iion was only trivial when compared with the havoc wrought 

 by the sparrow, when it became numerous. 



Every bird-house in town eventually became crowded with 

 sparrows and instead of the twitter of the industrious martins, 

 bubbling over with happiness, the monotonous jingle of the 

 sparrows became the rule, changing the charm of the martin 

 houses into rasping "chatter-boxes." The sparrows had their 

 day, however, and people who had either encouraged them or 

 treated them with indifference, began a crusade against them 

 by killing them and tearing out their nests. Persons who had 

 martin-houses fostered the return of the martins until now the 

 birds are increasing. 



The writer has always desired a colony of these birds, but, 

 fearing the usual trouble with the sparrows, refrained, for a 

 long time, from putting up a bird-house for their accommoda- 

 tion. The desire to have the martins, coupled with a determina- 

 tion to oust the sparrows, which nested about our buildings, 

 prompted me to erect a martin-house in 1896 and establish a 

 colony which has grown to large proportions, necessitating ad- 

 ditional houses until now the birds have ninety-nine nesting 

 rooms at their disposal, about three-fourths of which were oc- 

 cupied in 1902. Nor has this been the limit of the good results 

 of establishing the colony seven years ago. Many more birds 

 are reared at my houses, annually, than get nesting rooms the 

 next spring when they return ; thus creating a surplus of birds 



