The Burgess Bird Book for Children 



guess again about anybody's relatives. I always 

 supposed Twitter the Martin to be a relative of 

 yours, but now that I've learned that Sooty isn't, 

 I suspect that Twitter isn't either." 



"Oh, yes, he is," replied Skimmer promptly. 

 "He's the largest of the Swallow family, and we all 

 feel very proud of him. Everybody loves him." 



"Is he as black as he looks, flying round up in 

 the air ? " asked Johnny Chuck. "He never comes 

 down here as you do where a fellow can get a good 

 look at him." 



"Yes," replied Skimmer, "he dresses all in 

 black, but it is a beautiful blue-black, and when 

 the sun shines on his back it seems to be almost 

 purple. That is why some folks call him the 

 Purple Martin. He is one of the most social 

 fellows I know of. I like a home by myself, such 

 as I've got here, but Twitter loves company. 

 He likes to live in an apartment house with a lot 

 of his own kind. That is why he always looks for 

 one of those houses with a lot of rooms in it, such 

 as Farmer Brown's boy has put up on the top of 

 that tall pole out in his back yard. He pays for 

 all the trouble Farmer Brown's boy took to put 

 that house up. If there is anybody who catches 

 more flies and winged insects than Twitter, I 

 don't know who it is." 



"How about me?" demanded a new voice, 

 [114] 



