THE PURPLE MARTIN. 



389 



prey which he selects. Wasps, bees, large beetles, particularly those called 

 by the boys (joldsmilhs, seem liis favorite game. I have taken four of these 

 large beetles iVoni tiie stomacli of a purple martin, eaeii of which seemed 

 entire, and even unbruiscd. 



" The fligiit of tlie purple martin unites iu it all the swiftness, ease, rapid- 

 ity of turning, and gracefulness of motion of its tribe. Lil^e the swift of 

 Europe, he sails mucii with little action of the wings. He passes tiu'ough 

 the most crowded parts of our streets, ehiding the passengers with the 

 quickness of thouglit ; or plaj's among the clouds, gliding about at a vast 

 heigiit, like an aerial being. His usual note — peno, 'peuo, peao — is 

 loud and musical, but is frequently succeeded by others more low and 

 guttural. Soon after the 20th of August he leaves Pennsylvania for the 

 soutli." 



In Xew England, this species begins to prepare its nest about tiie IDth 

 of May : tliis is composed of dried grasses, leaves, and feathers, and is 

 deposited usually in a box prepared for this purpose. Tiie eggs are from 

 four to six in number, of a pure wliite color, and vary but little in 

 form from exactly oval. Tliey average about 1 by .70 incli. Two broods 

 are often reared in the season, and tlie period of incubation is fourteen 

 days. 



In Europe tlie swallows are great favorites. An English writer says, 

 "The swallow brings out her first brood about the last week of June or tlic 

 first in July, and her second brood towards tiie middle or end of August. 

 During the month of September the young of the last incubation have 

 acquired full strength of wing. At the end of that month, or beginning 

 of October, the great migratory movement soutiiwards commences. INIulti- 

 tudes from various quarters now congregate together, and perch at night in 

 clusters on trees, barns, house-tops, but especially among the reed beds of 

 marshes and fens, round which, as evening draws on, they may be observed 

 wheelinLT and skiinminir, now sinkinir, now risini^ and wheeling atrain, all 

 the while uttering their garrulous concert, till tliey linaily settle down, and 

 all is quiet and silent." 



It is a remarkable circumstance in the history of our Ilinuidlnlthc, that 

 they return annually to tlie same place, and often resume and repair their 

 old nests, ov if they have been destroyed, build others in their stead ; but 

 the question arises. Is not this, to a greater or less extent, the same with all 

 our summer visitors? Do they not, very often, return to their old haunts? 

 We know of in(ii\iduals of several species that yearly are seen in the same 

 locality. We have in mind a robin (7'. mujrulurlus) , which, possessing a 

 song different from that of his species, is easily known, and he always 

 spends the summer in a certain garden, enlivening the whole neighborhood 



