24 BIRDS OF LA PLATA 
PURPLE MARTIN 
Progne furcata 
Deep purple-blue ; tail black marked with blue; length 7.7 inches. 
Female, upper parts dull purple; head, neck, and lower parts blackish 
brown. 
THE Purple Martin is occasionally seen in the eastern 
provinces of La Plata when migrating, but has not 
been found nesting anywhere so far north as Buenos 
Ayres. I met with it breeding at Bahia Blanca on 
the Atlantic coast, and on the Rio Negro, where it 
is very common. It arrives in Patagonia late in Sep- 
tember, and leaves before the middle of February. 
On the fourteenth of that month I saw one flock 
flying north, but it was the last. It breeds in holes 
under the eaves of houses or in walls, and its nest is 
like that of P. chalybea; but many also breed in 
holes in the steep banks of the Rio Negro. They do 
not, however, excavate holes for themselves, but 
take possession of natural crevices and old forsaken 
burrows of the Burrowing Parrot (Conurus patacho- 
nicus). In size, flight, manners, and appearance the 
Purple Martin closely resembles the following species, 
the only difference being in the dark plumage of the 
under surface. The language of the two birds is 
also identical; the loud excited scream when the 
nest is approached, the various other notes when 
the birds sweep about in the air, and the agreeably 
modulated and leisurely-uttered song are all pos- 
sessed by the two species without the slightest 
