126 



The Purple Martin, 



years ago in the Forest and Stream, give an 

 idea of the unceasing way in which the 

 old birds perform this labor, and of the 

 vast number of insects — many of them 

 hurtful — which are destroyed daily by a 

 pair of these useful birds. Writing from 

 St. Louis under date of July 2, 1884, he 

 says : 



It may be interesting to many of your readers to 

 know more about the family cares of our birds. In 

 order to find out how often young Martins are fed 

 by their parents, and at what times the principal 

 meals are served, I watched my sixteen feeding pairs 



day, and the young Martins may well call it their 

 dinner. 



After this the parents took a well-deserved rest, 

 but when the sun neared the horizon they were all 

 off again, preparing for supper, which was not so 

 hearty as one might expect. 



As a rule, the older the birds in the nest, the 

 oftener they are fed, and from the size of the insect 

 which the parents bring, the age of the young may 

 be judged. 



The youngest birds are fed at longer intervals with 

 crushed insects, mostly small beetles, from the craw. 

 About a fortnight old, they are fed from the bill 

 with soft insects of the size of large files; but insects 

 with stings, such as bees and wasps, are never 



Weather Conditions. 



Time. 



No. 

 7 



No. 

 12 



I 

 S 

 4 

 17 

 18 



25 



32 

 18 



27 

 17 



38 

 32 

 20 

 14 

 II 



... 



No. 

 17 



9 



il 

 22 

 16 

 22 

 20 

 23 



22 



13 



8 



35 



20 

 II 



23 

 II 



280 



No. 



5 



4 

 9 

 15 

 18 



19 

 27 

 20 

 14 



22 



12 



7 

 45 

 22 

 15 

 15 

 II 



27s 



No. 

 II 



4 

 12 



9 



14 

 18 

 25 

 27 

 24 



17 

 9 

 9 

 31 

 14 

 12 

 12 

 17 



254 



No. 

 10 



10 



13 



22 

 17 

 21 

 17 

 20 

 10 



23 



7 



4 



38 



17 



12 



15 



4 

 249 



No. 

 24 



I 

 12 



9 



9 

 15 

 12 

 16 



15 



5 



12 

 35 

 14 



9 

 24 

 IS 



217 



No. 



25 



5 

 7 



10 



II 



14 



15 

 9 



14 



13 

 7 



10 

 40 

 13 

 14 

 II 

 10 



203 



No. 

 22 



6 



4 



7 



7 



13 

 20 



13 



18 



20 



7 

 1 1 

 32 

 13 

 12 

 10 

 10 



203 



No. 

 t6 



2 



5 



7 



14 



13 



22 



17 



i3 



14 

 8 

 7 



24 

 6 



II 



14 



TO 



192 



No. 

 36 



6 

 8 

 8 

 14 

 19 

 12 



17 

 12 



13 



8 

 7 



22 

 II 



7 



12 



9 



185 



No. 



I 



6 

 6 

 9 

 8 



9 



14 

 13 

 10 



10 

 6 

 2 



23 

 5 



10 

 8 



10 



149 



No. 

 14 



6 

 6 



13 



8 



7 

 II 



6 

 8 



II 

 7 

 9 



iS 

 8 



10 



A 

 147 



No. 

 26 



4 



n 

 10 

 10 

 7 

 10 



4 



4 

 3 

 12 



IS 

 II 



3 

 9 

 15 



134 



No. 

 19 



3 



^6 

 6 

 II 

 6 



5 

 6 



6 



5 

 3 

 14 

 8 

 7 

 7 

 6 



103 



No. 

 6 



I 

 5 

 4 

 5 

 9 

 10 



7 

 S 



S 

 2 

 6 

 8 



5 

 6 



5 

 7 



90 



T'l. 





A.M. 



4 to s 



5 to 6 



6 to 7 



7 to 8 



8 to 9 



9 to 10 



10 to II 



11 to 12 

 P.M. 



13 to I 



1 to 2 



2 to 3 



3 to 4 



4 to s 



5 to 6 



6 to 7 



7 to 8 



II 



12 



19 

 22 

 26 

 28 

 27 

 17 



28 

 16 



7 

 41 

 25 



7 

 II 



3X^ 



8S 





118 





171 





202 





232 





276 



87° to 89° wind increasing S 



89O 



255 

 217 



92°, storm approaching, wind 



shifting to W.. 



83°, rain commencing at 1:25 



250 

 132 

 119 



80°, clearing, calm 



459 

 22 d 





166 





194 





177 





3277 



Number of visits by male !ii9 



Number of visits by female |i93 



164 !i40 

 I30 '140 



138 127 

 147 127 



119 I 98 



84 ]ios 



6i I 73 



131 112 



1454 

 1823 



during an entire day, June 24, from 4 A. M. till 8 

 P. M., marking every visit of the feeding parents, 

 males and females, separately. 



The Martins began hunting at 4:15, but no food 

 was brought until 4:30. 



The accompanying table shows that our young 

 Martins had to put up with a light breakfast, but the 

 visits became more and more frequent as the sun and 

 mercury climbed up, and reached their liveliest time 

 between 9 and 10 A. M., i. e., lunch time. After 

 that a lull was noticeable, broken only by an ap- 

 proaching storm, which brought new life into the 

 feeding business, but for a short time only, and to be 

 reduced to a minimum during the light rain, 1:25 to 

 2:45. Even after the rain had ceased, little feeding 

 was done until the sky begun to clear up and the sun 

 reappeared. 



From that moment the number of visits swelled 

 with great rapidity, and kept mc hard at work for 

 over an hour. It was the substantial meal of the 



brought. When four weeks old, large dragon- 

 flies, grasshoppers and butterflies make the principal 

 food. The young Martins do not leave their box 

 until they are six weeks old. 



The table itself needs no further explanation, 

 except that the occupants of the sixteen boxes were 

 of all ages, from one week old in No. 6 to five weeks 

 old in Nos. 12, i6, 17. 



The number of hungrj' mouths has something to 

 do with the frequency of the visits. No. 7, which 

 heads the list, has four young ones (four weeks old), 

 while most of the other boxes have three. No. 16 

 has only two. 



This gentleman, who has made a very 

 careful study of this interesting species 

 during the whole of its stay near St. Louis, 

 gives in the same journal a most interesting 

 account of the roosting habits of this bird 

 when on its southward migration. This 



