THE PURPLE MARTIN 293 



the Far North. Any one can instantly identify one of these 

 birds by its jaunty top-knot, and the little drops of ver- 

 milion wax on the tips of its secondaries, eight on each 

 side. 



THE SWALLOW FAMILY 



Hirundinidae 



The members of the Swallow Family are among the most 

 sociable of our feathered friends, and also the most con- 

 spicuous. Of all the birds that are known to feed upon and 

 destroy the deadly cotton-boll weevil of the South, and other 

 weevils also, the Swallows and Martins are the most effective. 

 In view of the millions of dollars annually lost to the cotton- 

 planters of the South through the boll weevil, it is amazing 

 that in portions of the South some of these birds are shot by 

 alleged "sportsmen," for sport. 



The Purple Martin 1 loves the little house atop of a 

 tall pole, which the country boy who loves birds takes pleasure 

 in erecting for it. Forty years ago thousands of the prairie 

 farms of the middle West bore these tall monuments to the 

 love of wild birds which is born in every right-minded boy! 

 And how gracefully the glossy-black Martins used to circle 

 and swoop and gyrate about them. Sometimes the blue- 

 birds took possession of the martin-boxes, and then George 

 or Jol in was troubled; for having designed and erected on 

 high a dwelling especially for the Martins, it seemed morally 

 wrong that they should be forestalled, or crowded out. 



And then came Ahab, the English sparrow, a homely, 



1 Proy'ne su'bis. Average length, 8 inches. 



