332 DAVENPORT ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. 



a bird of southern distribution and is rare in southern Iowa, sel- 

 dom appearing as far north as the center of the state. Keyes and 

 WilHams state that "during the season of 1S89 this species was 

 observed at Des Moines and three nests with eggs taken, but 

 since then has not been noticed in that vicinity. One of the nests, 

 taken July 23, contained two eggs about half incubated. The 

 nest was placed on the horizontal limb of an elm tree in a rather 

 open grove, and was about fifteen feet from the ground. 



County records: Des Monies —"took a specimen in the spring 

 of 1889 at Burlington" (Bartsch, Iowa Orn., i, 3, 1895, P- 64). 

 L,ee — "rare" (Praeger); "rare summer visitant; may breed" 

 (Currier); "rare summer resident" (Berry). Marshall — "rare; 

 only observed a few times " (A. P. Godley, Iowa Orn., i, 1895, p. 

 64). Scott — " not a regular bird in Scott county, and rarely 

 seen. May, 1889, I took my first. Have never seen more than 

 one at a time and that only in May " (J. H. Brown, Iowa Orn., 

 i, 1895, p. 64) ; " rare straggler, only one seen, shot April 20, 

 1899" (Wilson). Van Buren — "in 1895 I shot an immature 

 male. This is the only one I have known to occur in one vicin- 

 ity " (W. G. Savage). 



Family HIRUNDINID.^. Swallows. 



The Swallows are a well-known family, distributed throughout 

 the world. They have long, powerful wings and small, weak 

 feet; fissirostral, with wide, deep gape, enabling them to capture 

 insects, which form their food almost exclusively, upon the wing. 

 They migrate usually by daj'. 



Genus Progne Boie. 



270. (611). Progiie szibis {l^mn.). Purple Martin. 



The Purple Martin is a common summer resident in all parts 

 of the state, arriving with great regularity, usually during the 

 first ten days of April, but a few stragglers sometimes come in the 

 last of March. The Martins nest in bird-boxes or in cornices of 

 buildings, returning to the same spot year after year. Of late 

 years they have decreased in numbers in many localities, owing 

 to the fact that the English Sparrows preempt their nesting- 

 places in the early spring. Formerly the Martins nested in trees. 

 F. V. Hayden stated that the Martin was "abundant throughout 



