*Notes on the Purple Martin (PROGNE SUBIS) 

 and Bird Houses for Its Summer Home. 



(Written for the Monthly Bulletin of the Division of Zoology, at the request of the 

 Economic Zoologist.) 



Away back in the seventies when we first came to 

 Waynesburg, my father erected a bird house of sixteen 

 rooms for the use of the Martins. At that time the En- 

 glish Sparrow was not known in this section and its depre- 

 dations, therefore, were not thought of. However, another 

 bird, one of beauty and courage, was already upon the scene 

 and claimed nativity as his right to pre-empt the home of 

 the Martins. This was the blue bird with his uniform of 

 deep blue coat and reddish pantaloons. There was no com- 

 promise on his part; he wanted the whole box for his sin- 

 gle nest. Selfish, stubborn and stingy, he would drive away 

 half a dozen of his own kind after they had assisted in 

 breaking the Martins' eggs, or in killing the young. At 

 first my father had my older brothers shoot some of these 

 birds, but it seemed that another was always ready to take 

 the place of one killed. 



Despairing of reducing the number of Bluebirds, my fa- 

 ther ordered the shooting stopped. My brothers then 

 caught the Bluebirds and pulled out their tail feathers, and 



^Published February 1, 1904, in "The Monthly Bulletin of the Divi- 

 sion of Zoology, Vol. I., No. 10," Issued by the Pennsylvania State Board 

 of Agriculture, Harrisburg, Pa. — pages 27 to 30. Prof. H. A. Surface, Econ- 

 omic Zoologist. On a preceding page, under the head of "Our Monthly 

 Chat with Readers," Prof. Surface calls attention to this article in the fol- 

 lowing note: "Especial attention should be called to the article on 'Notes 

 on the Purple Martin and Bird Houses for its Summer Home,' which is 

 written especially for this bulletin, without charge, by Mr. J. Warren Ja- 

 cobs, Waynesburg, Pa. Mr. Jacobs has not only prepared this valuable and 

 timely article, but has also loaned to the State, free of charge, for use in 

 this Bulletin, his excellent plates from which the illustrations were made 

 for his very interesting and unequalled booklet entitled 'The Story of a 

 Martin Colony'." 



