336 BIRDS OF ONTARIO. 



FAMILY HIRUNDINID^E. SWALLOWS. 



GENUS PROGNE BOIE. 

 PROGNE SUBIS (LiNN.). 



245. Purple Martin. (611) 



Lustrous blue-black ; the female and young are much duller above, and 

 more or less white below, streaked with gray. Length, 7 or more ; wing, 

 nearly 6 ; tail, 83, simply forked. 



HAB. Temperate North America, south to Mexico. 



Nest, of hay, straw, bits of twine and paper, lined with feathers. 



Eggs, four or five, pure white, glossy, oblong, pointed at one end. 



The Purple Martin arrives in Southern Ontario about the 10th 

 of May, and though generally distributed is nowhere abundant. Its 

 original nesting place was in a knot-hole or other hollow in a tree, 

 but now, seeking the society of men, it raises its young in boxes put 

 up for its accommodation, or in the interstices of the Gothic archi- 

 tecture of our city buildings. 



Its flight is rapid and its aerial evolutions often extremely grace- 

 ful, while at other times it may be seen sailing, hawk-like, with very 

 little action of the wings. 



The Martins are general favorites in town and country, and are 

 made welcome everywhere. Before leaving in the fall they have a 

 grand gathering, which is thus described by Dr. Wheaton in the 

 "Birds of Ohio": 



"After the breeding season is over, these birds congregate towards 

 night in large flocks, and having selected a suitable cornice on 

 some high building, make preparations for spending the night. The 

 retiring ceremony is very complicated and formal, to judge from the 

 number of times they alight and rise again, all the while keeping up 

 a noisy chatter. It is not until twilight deepens into evening that 

 all are huddled together in silence and slumber, and their slumbers 

 are often disturbed by some youngster who falls out of bed, amid the 

 derisive laughter of his neighbors, which is changed to petulant 

 scolding as he clambers over them to his perch, tumbling others 

 down. All at once the scene of last night's disturbance is quiet 

 and deserted, for the birds have flown to unknown southern lands, 

 where they find less crowded beds and shorter, warmer nights." 



It occurs in Manitoba as a rare summer resident, and that seems 

 to be the northern limit of the species. 



