20 



few people now put up martin houses, and English sparrows or 

 other birds keep the martins from settling in some of those that 

 have been erected. Martins, unlike most native hole-nesting 

 birds, prefer to nest in large colonies. Hence 

 martin houses usually are made with many 

 compartments. The Indians hung many hol- 

 lowed gourds for the martins on the poles of 

 their wigwams or on some dead tree near by. 

 Some of the southern people still use gourds to 

 attract martins. Often several gourds are hung 

 from a crosspiece on a tall pole (Fig. 27), and 

 these collections of gourds are popular with the 

 martins. Only the larger gourds should be used 

 for them. If a round entrance hole is made it 

 should be about 2| inches in diameter, as the 

 martin likes to have the entrance large enough 

 to admit the light as he enters. 



Poles for martins should be at least 10 or 12 

 feet high. Such poles are sufficient if placed in 

 quiet places, not too near trees or dwellings, 

 or where noisy, quick-moving children or dogs 

 are at play; but if there is much noise and 

 disturbance, a pole 20 feet or more in height 

 may be necessary. No pole is likely to be 

 too high for martins. They seem to prefer 

 a height of 20 or 30 feet. These birds fre- 

 quently have nested in quiet places among 

 trees and quite near houses, even in nesting 

 boxes on poles on the roofs of wooden build- 

 ings or high city blocks, but they will not 

 accept hidden nesting places where they have 

 to fly in among the branches of leafy trees, 

 and they seem to come most readily to a 

 bird house situated in an open yard or on 

 a wide lawn. They seem to prefer low 

 ground to high ground, and always like the 

 neighborhood of water. Therefore an open 

 river valley suits them, but people not having these advantages 

 need not despair, as martins often have nested on high ground, 

 but rarely, I believe, far from water, A good drinking and 



Fig. 27. — Gourds for 

 martins. 



Fig. 28. —Martin barrel. 



