Purple Martin 707 



In this same colony a number of nests were in process of construction, and 

 while watching them it was noticed that one particular bird did not make 

 excursions to the near-by mud puddle, which supplied the building material, 

 as did the others. This bird waited quietly until her neighbors had gone for 

 fresh material, when she repaired to these half-finished structures, removed 

 the last piece of mud they had put in place, and carefully molded it to her own 

 nest. These tactics were observed again and again, and in no instance did 

 the bird bring material for herself, nor did the others appear to notice the appro- 

 priation of their supply. 



The nesting habits of Swallows are somewhat variable, a few placing their 

 nests in hollows of various descriptions in no event excavated or prepared by the 

 birds themselves, others digging burrows in banks of earth or sand, while the 

 majority build rough stuccoed nests of moist clay or mud. The habits of a num- 

 ber have been modified or in some cases almost totally changed through their 

 contact with man. The eggs usually number four or five, the color being pure 

 white or white with a more or less profuse spotting of brownish. 



The Swallows, comprising approximately twenty genera and over one hundred 

 species, are practically cosmopolitan though more abundant in warmer countries, 

 and the majority of them are highly migratory, often making journeys of vast 

 distances, while others are resident, and a few are confined to relatively small 

 areas, though for the most part they are wide-ranging. The family has been 

 divided into two subfamilies, the first of which (HirundinincE) comprises the 

 majority of the group, and the second (Psalidoprocnintz) the Saw- winged 

 Swallows of West and South Africa, and, according to Sharpe, the American 

 Rough-winged Swallows, though Mr. Ridgway and others doubt the correctness 

 of placing the last genus here, and I follow these latter authorities in keeping 

 them with the typical Swallows. 



Purple Martins. The first genus to be considered includes the Purple 

 Martins (Progne), the six species of which range over the whole of temperate 

 and tropical America, including the West Indies and the Galapagos Islands. 

 They are birds of large size for the group, with a stout, distinctly hooked bill 

 and circular superior nostrils, the plumage in the adult males being a glossy 

 blue-black above, some species being entirely of this color, while others have 

 the under parts partly white. The best-known species is the common Purple 

 Martin ( P. subis), which has the under parts entirely dark steel-blue like the upper 

 parts ; the female is much duller and more sooty gray, and the young are similar. 

 This bird occurs throughout temperate North America, except the Pacific coast 

 district, where it is replaced by the lighter-colored Western Martin (P. s. hes- 

 peria\ and nests as far north as Maine, New Brunswick, Manitoba, and Montana, 

 though it is most abundant in the Southern States ; it winters from southern 

 Florida and Mexico to Venezuela and Brazil. In the Northern States, however, 

 it is a comparatively rare bird of local distribution, and for some unexplained 

 reason appears to have steadily decreased in numbers in recent years, though 

 it is still common in the south. Originally the Purple Martin nested in hollow 

 trees and crevices in rocks, and in the more western parts of its range still does . 



