*7 



One evening while walking along the railroad track, a short 

 distance west from my home, I observed fifty or more mar- 

 tins, soaring around, only a few feet above the ground, and 

 capturing small winged insects resembling ants, which were 

 emerging from the ground, railroad ties, old timbers and al- 

 most every conceivable nook, and immediately taking flight. 

 Dragon-flies form a larger per cent, of their food than do but- 

 terflies ; grasshoppers, which form a small part of their food 

 are brought in from the hill-top fields to the southward. The 

 annual cicadae or locusts are brought in in small numbers ; 

 but in 1897, when the seventeen-year variety made their ap- 

 pearance, the birds appeared to thrive almost wholly on them, 

 an immense number being brought to the young. On one oc- 

 casion I timed the old birds feeding tihe young, and during a 

 period of only fifteen minutes, twenty-one locusts were fed to 

 the ten broods then in the house. Any of these large insects 

 are swallowed immediately by the half grown young and the 

 older birds. 



A large number of insects are dropped to the ground, be- 

 neath the boxes, but the old birds will not venture down for 

 them. During the early period of the colony, when it con- 

 tained only a few pairs, I frequently induced the old birds to re- 

 claim some of their prey, thus lost, by tossing the larger in- 

 sects up toward the box, when the old birds would swoop down 

 and catch them in their beaks. The booty that drops to the 

 ground does not go to waste, for I have a pair of Catbirds which 

 spend half their time on the ground, beneatih the boxes, feeding 

 at the martin's expense. A pair of Cardinals and several Robins 

 also make visits to the larder. 



Some of the old martins have been seen to eat small bits of 

 apple leaves, while resting on the tips of the branches. Just a 

 few times I have noticed some of my birds waddling about on 

 the ground in the garden and apparently feeding, but whether 

 on seeds or insects could not be ascertained, but as they 

 seemed to prefer ground freshly worked, which exposed many 

 insects, leads me to believe they were in quest of these. 



