Three or four times I have discovered cats crouching in 

 the grass waiting for the birds to get to fighting and fall to 

 the ground. Once I chased a cat home which had caught one 

 of my birds, but I was too late as the bird was dead. My feline 

 friend came back, however, in less than twenty minutes, and 

 as he again crouched beneath the box, I sent a rifle ball through 

 his body which had the desired effect. At two other times I 

 have been obliged to kill cats that loitered on the lawn beneath 

 the bird houses. 



Excessive heat is the cause of the death of many young 

 birds, who becoming almost suffocated in the nesting rooms, 

 venture outside and fall to the ground, injuring or killing 

 them. 



By far the greatest factor in causing the death of my mar- 

 tins in any one season, visited them during the summer of 

 1902, when more than half the young died of starvation, super- 

 induced by a cold wet spell which set in June 27th, just when 

 many young birds were about old enough to leave their nests. 

 This period lasted a week, during which time at least one hun- 

 dred and fifty young and several old birds perished. Depend- 

 ing entirely on winged insects, which could not be found dur- 

 ing such bad weather, entire broods died from lack of food. 

 The old birds, too, suffered much and presented a pitiable sight 

 going out through rain and a chilly atmosphere in search of 

 food for their nestlings, but returning, only to perch at the 

 door to their rooms and watch the death agony of their starv- 

 ing young. Their actions also told of their anxiety and fear ; — 

 flying to and fro about their houses, or resting on the telephone 

 wire giving vent to their feelings by twitterings and notes that 

 seemed more like grief and distress than their usual jubilant 

 chatterings. 



Off to the South, 



About July 25th., the martins from all the bird houses in town 

 begin to collect in a flock in some convenient place, generally 



