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nish it with a full supply of its natural food. If 

 the weather is favourable, it commences nidifi cation 

 early in May, and builds in the upper angles of 

 windows and under the eaves of houses, sometimes 

 nnder 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 its inhabitants. The eggs 

 are from four to six in number, of a transparent or 

 pinkish white. 



MAETIN, PUEPLE, 



HlEUNDO PURPUIiEA, 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. Eesorting 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 



