HIKUNDINIUvE — THE SWALLOWS. 33^ 



alpine ref,noiis of Mexico, and is also fbuiul at Ca|.u St. Lucas. Accidental 

 spccinjens liuvc heen dutectod in Knyland and in iicland. It is ahimdant 

 on tlic .Saskatchewan. IJiirnieister states that this species is ciuniiKin in the 

 vicinity oC K'io de Janeiro, and tliat it is distril.iitcd in nuulenitc almndance 

 tin'ou-li the whole of tro].ical Soutli America. Von rd/eln also cites it as 

 occurrin-,' on the Kio Xcjr,„ „nd at Manaiineri throii-h tiie three winter 

 months, nestinj,' in old l.uiidin-s and in holes in the rocks. It i.s, iiowever, 

 tiuite possihle tiiat tiiey refer to an allied hut distinct siiecies. 



In a wild state tlie natural resort of tills species, for nestin-,' and shelter, 

 was to hollow trees and crevasses in rocks. The introduction of civilized' 

 hfe, and with it of other siifer and more convenient places, better adapted to 

 their wants, has wrought an entire eiian-e in its hid)its. It is now very 

 rarely known to resort to a hollow tree, thou,^]i it will do so where better 

 provision is not to be had. Comfortable and convenient lioxes, of various 

 devices, in our cities and large towns, attract them to buihl in small (iommu- 

 nities around the dwellings of man, where their .social, familiar, and conliding 

 disposition make them general favorites. There they find abundance of in" 

 sect food, and repay their benefactors by -the destruction of numi'rous injuri- 

 ous and noxious kind.s, and there, too, they are also comparatively .safe IVom 

 their own enemies. These conveniences vary from the elegant martin- 

 houses that adorn private grounds in our Eastern cities to the ruder gourds 

 and calabashes which ure said to be frequently placed near the humliler 

 cabins of tlie Southern negroes. In Washington the columns of the public 

 buildings, and the eaves and sheltered portions of the jiiazzas, afford a con- 

 venient i)rotection to large numbers around the Patent OtUce and the Post- 

 Ollice buildings. 



The al)undance of this s]iecies varies in different i)arts of the country, from 

 causes not always apparent. In the vicinity of Boston it is quite unusual, 

 though said to have been, forty years since, quite common. There their 

 places are taken by the //. himlor, who occupy almost exclusively the mar- 

 tin-houses, and very rarely build in hollow trees. 



Sir John llidiardson states tiiat it arri\es within the Arctic Circle earlier 

 than any other of its family. It made its first appearance at Great Bear 

 Lake as early as the 17th of :\ray, when the ground was covered with snow, 

 and the rivers and lakes wen; idl iceljound. 



In the Southern States it is said to raise tliree broods in a season ; in its 

 more northe .1 di.stribution it raises but one. Their early migrations expose 

 the j\Iartins to severe exposure and suffering from changes'of weather, in 

 which large numl)ers have been known to perish. An occurrence of this 

 kind is said to have taken i)lac(! in Eastern jMassachusetts, whore nearly all 

 the birds of this sj)ecies were destroyed, and where to this day their places 

 have never l)een sujiplied. 



Within its selected compartment the :\Iartin prepares a loose and irregular 

 nest. This is composed of various materials, such as fine dry lea\es, straws, 



