THE PsURPLE MARTIN. 



THE Purple Martin is the largest of the 

 swallow tribe. He is also one of the 

 most useful of this extremely serviceable 

 group of birds. Not only does he destroy 

 vast numbers of hurtful insects, but from 

 his ready adaptability to changed con- 

 ditions, and his willingness, if encouraged, 

 to make his home on or near man's dwel- 

 lings, he becomes the guardian of the 

 poultry yard. No hawk or owl or eagle 

 is daring enough to approach a farmhouse 

 where one or more pairs of this courageous 

 and swift-winged species are rearing their 

 broods. If a bird of prey, ignorant of the 

 presence of these protectors, comes near 

 to see what opportunity there may be to 

 pick up one of the young chickens that 

 are wandering about the door yard, the 

 Martins discover him at once, and sally 

 forth with angry twitterings, to give battle 

 to the intruder. Their powerful wings 

 bear them swiftly toward their enemy, who, 

 too late, turns to fly. They easily overtake 

 him, and dart down from above, buffeting 

 him savagely. The intruder wastes no 

 time in trying to give battle to his small 

 but dreadful assailants, and with all the 

 speed that he can command, hurries to 

 the nearest shelter. When he reaches the 

 woods or some thicket into which he 

 plunges, the victorious Martins rise high 

 in air, and side by side, calling to each 

 other with notes of triumph and congratu- 

 lation, wing their way back to the home 

 which they have so boldly defended. 



But the Martin is not a quarrelsome 

 fellow at all. He is just a sturdy, hard- 

 working citizen of the bird world, who is 

 determined to stand up for what he con- 

 siders his own rights, and who is afraid of 

 nothing that flies. Sometimes when he 

 arrives from the south in April, he finds 

 that the home in which he reared his 

 brood last summer has been taken posses- 



sion of by a pair of bluebirds or perhaps 

 by English sparrows. If this is the case, 

 he prepares without loss of time to eject 

 the usurpers, and he usually succeeds in 

 doing this very easily. Then he pulls out 

 and throws to the ground all the material 

 that has been brought into the chamber by 

 the previous occupants, and goes calmly 

 ahead with his own housekeeping arrange- 

 ments. It is rather an amusing spectacle 

 to see a conquering Martin, perched in the 

 entrance of his home, chattering threaten- 

 ingly at a lot of sparrows, who sit about 

 abusing him with all the strength of their 

 small lungs, but quite powerless to do 

 anything to help themselves. 



The Purple Martin arrives from his 

 winter home, far to the south of the 

 United States, early in February, and soon 

 spreads over the whole of the country, 

 reaching the falls of the Ohio, according 

 to Audubon, about March 15, and New 

 York about the middle of April. 



Before the settlement of this country, 

 the Martins reared their young in holes 

 in the trees, or in rocks, and even now, in 

 wild regions, they make use of the holes 

 excavated in trees by the woodpeckers. 

 Often, however, the farmers, appreciating 

 the services rendered by this useful bird, 

 put up houses for it, and these are occu- 

 pied by the same colony year after year. 

 The birds dwell together in the utmost 

 harmony, and seem never to quarrel among 

 themselves. 



Their nests are prepared soon after their 

 arrival and are simple affairs of dried grass, 

 just enough to keep the four or six white 

 eggs from resting on the floor of the house. 

 When the young are hatched the old birds 

 are kept very busy supplying food to the 

 yawning throats that ever cry for more. 

 Some observations made by Mr. O. Wid- 

 mann, of St. Louis, and published several 



