Notes from Field and Study 



87 



rather difficult task to get a good picture. 

 By placing another pole six feet from the 

 other with a box containing the camera, I 

 finally got the picture enclosed, after sev- 

 eral attempts. The arrangement of com- 

 partments in this cote is the result of con- 

 siderable experimenting. This arrange- 

 ment allows a pair to build in each com- 

 partment without interference. Their 

 nesting material consists of straw and 

 sticks, with green leaves picked from 

 the tree-tops for lining. During incuba- 

 tion, the male and the female take turns 

 in sitting, and also in feeding the young. 

 The young left their nests during the third 

 week in July, the number ranging from 

 three to five from each nest, they being 

 nearly as large as the parent birds and 

 capable of flying well. They all remained 

 in this locality until the middle of Septem- 

 ber, when they disappeared. — Jas. S. 

 Becker, Clyde, Ohio. 



Boxes for Purple Martins 



From my boyhood I have been an ad- 

 mirer of these beautiful birds, and have 

 learned much of their nature and fancies. 

 Purple Martins delight in the companion- 



ship of man, and especially are they at 

 home on the farm. 



Like the Wren and the Bluebird, Mar- 

 tins will use any kind of a nesting-place 

 which gives them protection. I have 

 known them to select the forsaken homes 

 made by Woodpeckers in tall trees. The 

 box which I have used measures 12 by 12 

 inches, its height is seven inches, the 

 width of the doorway is two inches. A 

 resting-porch two or three inches in width 

 is a great convenience. The box is 

 mounted upon a pole thirteen feet above 

 the earth. A scientific fancier of the Pur- 

 ple Martin says that he found by years of 

 experimenting with their wants, that the 

 Martins prefer that height for the home. 

 I keep the boxes in seclusion until the 

 Martins appear, which, in this latitide, is 

 in early April, and this practise is to aid 

 them against that pest, the House Spar- 

 row. Even then I have to maintain a con- 

 stant war against Passer domesticus by tear- 

 ing out their immense nests which may be 

 built in one day's absence of the Martins. 



Some use boxes large enough for several 

 families of these happy birds, but I judge 

 that each pair prefers its own house exclus- 

 ively. — Jasper Blines, Alexander, Mo. 



A MARTIN COLONY 



