486 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



they have been numerous. Cliff swallows also failed to 

 breed, and were not seen. 



Mr. T. S. Jackson of Westchester, Pa., estimates that fifty 

 per cent of the young of the smaller species failed to mature 

 in the nests. 



Mr. J. AA^arren Jacobs of Waynesburg, Pa., states in 

 "Bird Lore" that only one brood of young martins in his 

 bird houses escaiR'd death u}> to June 15. He took eight}^- 

 four dead young and three adult birds from two houses, but 

 the remaininir l)irds later reared other broods. 



S})acc will not i)erniit more evidence of this character. It 

 seems clear that in the States north, east and south of Massa- 

 chusetts many martins have survived, and that some have 

 been able to rear their young. As these colonies overflow, 

 the young birds may be expected in the natural order of 

 thino-s to mim-atc in different directions in search of new 

 homes, and this will eventually assist the renmant remaining 

 in ^Massachusetts to repopulate the State. But they will be 

 met by the English sparrow, which has already established 

 itself in many of the vacated martin boxes ; and unless the 

 s})arroAvs are shot, poisoned or kept out of the boxes, the 

 martins may never be able to regain their foothold in 

 the State. Those Avho do not wish to kill the sparrows may 

 drive them away, in time, by })ersistently removing all their 

 eggs from the nests. After this is accomplished the martins 

 may return, if the sparrows' nests are first cleaned out. 



The destruction of birds, their eggs or young, or their 

 inability to l)reed, would naturally tend to greatly reduce 

 the immber of birds in the early fall flight to the south, for 

 this flight is very largely composed of young birds. I was 

 in tha woods nearly every day through August and Septem- 

 ber and out of doors nearly every evening, and I have never 

 heard or seen so few warblers in flii^ht at that time. In the 

 daytime the woods were almost deserted by birds, and at 

 night very few were heard passing overhead. I saw no 

 night hawks or martins. Plurbes and bluebirds were plenty. 

 Swallows passed in August in considerable numbers. Chip- 

 ping, swamp and Savaiuiah sparrows were connnon, but I saw 

 no larire tiiirht of them. jNIr. William Brewster, who was 



