NESTING-HOUSES 35 



been arranged for them, but tbe birds deserted it 

 immediately, and nothing more was seen of them 

 till about six weeks later, when a single male, 

 which may have been one of these, was seen in 

 a neighboring town. 



For several years eggs were sent to Charles 

 H. Kingsbury, Barnard, New York, and placed in 

 the nest of barn swallows. In nearly every in- 

 stance the eggs hatched, but some accident befell 

 the young birds. In 1907 six young birds were 

 sent to the same locality and were raised by 

 hand. Three of these were successfully raised 

 and liberated. Mr. Kingsbury stated it was won- 

 derful the number of insects these youngsters 

 devoured ; one of his farm-hands spent his entire 

 time in attending to their wants. 



In the spring of 1908 martins' eggs were sent 

 by Mr. Jacobs to Mr. Daniel C. Robinson, Man- 

 chester, Maine, who placed them in the nest of 

 a phoebe. The bird continued to sit upon the 

 eggs, but they had been injured so that they 

 never hatched. 



Mr. Robinson also tried another experiment the 

 same season. A house full of martins, both old 

 and young, was brought by night from a neigh- 

 boring locality and set up on a pole in his yard. 

 The old birds deserted the house, and so the 

 young were fed by hand on grasshoppers, a mix- 



