42 



doned the foster offspring to his fate. The next day he saw 

 a swallow enter the barn, but on the following morning the 

 young Martin lay dead on the floor. 



From this experiment it would appear that when any of 

 the offspring of the rightful owner is left in the nest, the 

 young Martins must be taken out and reared by hand after 

 the old swallows forsake them and fly away with their own 

 young. Barn Swallows become fledged and are able to fly 

 from the nest in two weeks, whereas Martins remain in the 

 home nest four weeks after leaving the shell. 



Now it became evident that if it is desirable to have the 

 Swallows hatch and care for the Martins until they are able 

 to look out for themselves, elimination of their own eggs 

 must be accomplished. To accomplish this, three methods 

 seemed open to pursue. One was by cautiously removing the 

 Swallow's eggs, one by one, after the old bird began incuba- 

 tion. Another was to dispose of the young Swallows as soon 

 as hatched, which will be in advance of the Martins a day or 

 two. The third was an exchange of young by consigning all 

 Martins to one nest and all Swallows to another soon after 

 hatching. The latter plan would be the more humane way, 

 and should be followed whenever possible. The exchange, 

 however, must be made when the young are newly hatched 

 and about of even age. 



It must be understood that the value of the Barn or any 

 other species of Swallows as insect destroyers, is about on a 

 par with the Martin, and persons should hesitate to sacri- 

 fice the former in the interest of the latter. No sacrifice of 

 Martins takes place at the home colony, in supplying a few 

 eggs, for only persistent robbery will cause the old birds to 

 abandon their home box. 



Two experiments were made in 1907; nine eggs from two 

 nests in house No. 5 were used. Five of these went to Mr. 

 Kingsbury and four to Mr. Wm. C. Horton, Battleboro, Vt. 



Mr. Kingsbury's efforts resulted in failure, — one nest 

 containing two Martin eggs, becoming detached and falling 

 to the floor, while in the other case, the Martin eggs had 



