No. 4.] REPORT OF STATE ORNITHOLOGIST. 257 



lluni juiy other ^lassachnsclts town, is vory favorably situ- 

 ated at the juiietion of the Musketaqiiid and the Assabet 

 rivers, with meadows, fertile fields, orchards, pastures and 

 market gardens all about, encompassed by sheltering hills. 

 Probably martins were never numerous in the Berkshire 

 Hills, but the}' might be attracted again to some of the river 

 ^•alleys, and they were formerly abundant on the Connecticut. 

 They may yet become common again along the Connecticut, 

 the J\Ierrimac, the Blackstone, the Charles, the Alystic and 

 other rivers, as well as about the larger lakes, ponds and 

 marshes, if we help them in re-establishing themselves. 



Houses for martins should have the rooms at least G inches 

 square and 7 inches high. If the first box is a small one of 

 two to four apartments it will require little care. When a 

 colony has been established a larger box may be built. A 

 barrel makes a good martin house. One head is removed, 

 entrances are cut, small boxes are fastened inside for the 

 rooms, a long box is jilaced in the center to receive the pole, 

 the head is put in and the whole roofed with zinc or tin, as 

 in the cut. 



Martin boxes should be tight enough to keep out draughts 

 and rain. They may be made to accommodate a single pair 

 or a hundred pairs, according to the fancy of the owner and 

 the length of his purse. 



The entrance for the birds should be at least 21/4 inches 

 in diameter and 1 inch to 2 inches above the floor. This will 

 give room to clean out the apartments whenever it becomes 

 necessary. 



The box should be placed either on a roof of a building 

 where it will be inaccessible to cats or on a pole 13 feet or 

 more in height. There is little danger of getting the box too 

 high. Martins are likely to be frightened away from boxes 

 placed only 10 to 12 feet from the ground, particularly if 

 there are children about. 



The English sparrow must be kept out, for the sparrows, 

 if allowed to enter the box before the martins come in the 

 spring, Avill fill it with rubbish, and will then usually hold 

 it against the martins. Sometimes both sparrows and mar- 

 tins will occupy the same box, but when this hapj^ens the mar- 



