252 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



sparrow has driven out many martins and occupied most of 

 the martin boxes. For this reason the martins were much 

 reduced in numbers, even before the great storm of 11)03. 



Efforts were made in 1909 to ascertain, by means of 

 notices in the daily and weekly press and by hundreds of 

 letters to correspondents, whether the martins were again ob- 

 taining a foothold here. Most of the correspondents replied 

 that they had seen none. Some stated that they had heard 

 of some, but upon investigation found them to be not martins 

 but tree swallows, and a few answered that they had seen 

 martins only in migration. A few reports of breeding mar- 

 tins have been obtained from several of the eastern counties 

 of the State, and two come from the central region. While 

 the State Ornithologist has not been able to investigate the 

 accuracy of all these reports personally, he has no doubt that 

 most of them, if not all, are authentic. 



Ahstrads of Beports regarding the Breeding of Marlins in 

 Massachusetts in 1909. 



Bristol County. 

 Dartmouth. — A pair nested at South Dartmouth, the only ones I 

 have seen for years. — H. P. Burt^ New Bedford, June 15, 1909. 



Essex County. 



Ipsivich. — Saw probably six or eight pairs nesting' in Ipswich. 

 One man told me he knew the same pair had returned for seAeral 

 years. — Mrs. Frances L, Pettingill, Salisbury, June 10, 1909. 



On December 27 Mrs. Pettingill wrote that when she was at Ips- 

 wich later in the season she did not see any martins, and does not 

 know whether she was mistaken, but she says that all she saw when 

 there in September were tree swallows. 



Marblehead. — A pair nested in a small keg in Lower Marbleliead. 

 Several pairs were reported about the premises, but only one pair 

 built. — Robert F. Homan, June 10, 1909. 



Left when the young were able to fly. — Robert F. Homan, July 

 21, 1909. 



Merrimac. — There has always been a strong colony in Merrimac 

 until the storm of 1903; since then a few struggling ]iaii's have come 

 ])ack, but they do not increase very fast, because of the English 

 sparrows, which have taken possession of the house. — Frank E. 

 Watson, Haverhill, July 23, 1909. 



