Notes from Field and Study 



165 



Mrs. William C. Horton, of Brattleboro, 

 Vermont, writes: "The attractive colony of 

 Purple Martins, occupying the bird-house 

 belonging to William C. Horton, of Brat- 

 tleboro, V^ermont, met with fatal disaster 

 during the long rain in June. The colony 

 of about thirty birds came to the house as 

 usual in April. It was known from ap- 

 pearances in June that the birds were incu- 

 bating and brooding. June 23 Mr. Horton 

 observed that there were no Martins flying 

 about, and climbing to the bird-house to 

 ascertain the cause, found the dead bodies 

 of thirty little birds, twelve unhatched eggs 

 and one pair of adult birds dead on the 

 same nest, covering four decomposing little 

 ones. The nests, usually so warm and dry, 

 were completely water-soaked. 



"About ten days after the house had been 

 cleansed one pair of birds returned and flew 

 many times about the house, almost daring 

 to enter, and yet apparently fearful to do so, 

 at the same time uttering cries. Presently 

 one alighted momentarily on one of the 

 spires and said something to his mate, when 

 both flew away. Occasionally, since that 

 time, one or two pairs have returned to fly 

 about, but not to enter the house. 



"This bird-house has been the home of 

 the Martins every summer for twenty-five 

 years, and this is the first disaster that has 

 befallen the colony. 



"On the same grounds a Black and 

 White Warbler brought her young from the 

 grove where she had nested. When first 

 observed, the little ones could fly quite well, 

 but as the day advanced, and the rain and 

 chill increased, the little ones grew weaker. 

 One curled itself up exhausted and was 

 taken into the house for the night, but in 

 the morning it was dead, and ail the voices 

 of the other little ones left outside were 

 silent. The parent Warblers are evidently 

 building another nest, as they are carrying 

 nesting materials among the shrubbery. 



"The Song and Chipping Sparrows, 

 Wood Thrush, Robin, Downy Wood- 

 pecker, Catbird, Wood Pewee and a family 

 of Tree Swallows in a box under the roof of 

 our house were all successful in bringing 

 their families out safely, and we are visited 

 hourly by many of these friends." 



Mr. J. Warren Jacobs, of Waynesburg, 

 Pennsylvania, reports as follows concerning 

 his Martin colonies, in which, through Mr. 

 Jacobs' studies,* so many bird-lovers have 

 become interested : 



"Only one brood of Martins in my 

 colonies escaped death as a result of a three- 

 day's cold wet spell ending June 15. Ten 

 broods in house No. 2 and eleven or twelve 

 in house No. 3 succumbed. On this date 

 all nests in house No. 4 contained eggs. 



"From house No. 2 I took forty young 

 and one old dead bird. Under this old 

 bird were five young, four of which were 

 still alive, but cold and almost stiff. I put 

 these in a cloth and warmed them and they 

 were soon able to move about and make a 

 noise. We fed them flies, a few butterflies 

 and a small number of angleworms (the 

 latter for convenience, as butterflies were 

 scarce). The first night the weakest one 

 died, one died during the day and on the 

 second night the last two died. 



" This made a total of forty-five young and 

 one old bird from box No. 2. In No. 3 I 

 found thirty-nine young and two old birds 

 dead. From a room in this box came the 

 faint squeak of young which survived. This 

 is all that lived over this unfortunate period. 



"The number of nests containing eggs on 

 June 15 was close to forty. All of these 

 eggs, except two sets, were hatched, and 

 these two sets were deserted, probably 

 because of death of old birds during the 

 bad weather. 



"July 18 to 25 the young were coming 

 out daily. Then there was a lull until 

 after August 10, when the outcoming young 

 were again numerous. I should hav^ 

 previously mentioned that the birds which 

 lost their young rebuilt immediately, and 

 from their nests came the young mentioned 

 here. I think all these unfortunate parents 

 laid eggs and reared broods, as on August 

 10, there were twelve broods in house No. 

 3. This is the house which had contained 

 eleven or twelve nests full of dead young. 



"In my booklet on the Martin Colony — 

 page 20 — you will note a statement that a 

 cold, wet spell beginning on June 27 and 



*'The Story of a Martin Colony' by J. Warren 

 Jacobs. 



