135 
nish it with a full supply of its natural food. If 
tne weather is favourable, it commences nidification 
early in May, and builds in the upper angles of 
windows and under the eaves of houses, sometimes 
under the arches of bridges or against the face of 
rocks. The nest, which is well lined with a col- 
lection of straw, hay, and feathers, is formed out- 
wardly of mud compactly worked and cemented 
by means of its bill, and is closed all round, with 
the exception of a small orifice, just of sufficient 
size to admit a passage to itsinhabitants. The eggs 
are from four to six in number, of a transparent or 
pinkish white. 
MAR SY PUREE. 
Hirvunpo PurPurena, Lin. 
“This species, which is said to have been obtained 
in Britain on.one or two occasions, is a native of 
the United States of America. Resorting to human 
habitations, it is protected even by the American 
Indians, who, as a convenient place for a nest, 
hang on a neighbouring tree an empty gourd, in 
which a hole has been roughly cut. In this recep- 
tacle the Purple Martin makes its inartificial nest. 
The more civilized inhabitants of farms provide for 
the roosting of this bird by fastening nest boxes 
