The Purple Martin 97 



cisely what they are not. Not even the Httle 

 house wren has adapted itself so quickly to 

 civilised men's homes, as the swift and purple 

 martin. 



Intelligent people, who are only just begin- 

 ning to realise what birds do for us and how 

 very much more they might be induced to do, 

 are putting up boxes for the martins, not only 

 near their own houses, that the birds may rid the 

 air of mosquitoes, but in their gardens and 

 orchards that incalculable nimibers of injurious 

 pests in the winged stage may be destroyed. 

 When martins return to us in spring from 

 Central and South America, where they have 

 passed the winter, insects are just beginning to 

 fly, and if they can be captured then, before 

 they have a chance to lay their eggs, you see 

 how much trouble and money are saved for the 

 farmers by their tireless allies, the swallows. 

 Unfortunately, purple martins are not so com- 

 mon at the North as they were before the coming 

 of those saucy little immigrants, the English 

 sparrows, who take possession, by fair means 

 or by foul, of every house that they can find. 

 In the South, where the martins are still very 

 numerous, a peach grower I know has set up 

 in his orchard rows of poles, with a house on 

 each, either for them or for bluebirds. He 

 says these bird partners are of inestimable value 

 in keeping his fruit trees free from insects. 



