Notes from Field and Study 79 
It was not shy at all, as I was able to 
approach to within ten feet of it. A Blue 
winged Warbler, nearby, seemed to be in 
company with it.— Norman B. Pirriry, 
Waterbury, Conn. 
A Successful Martin Colony 
I send another photograph (See Brrp- 
Lore, March-April, 1909) of my Martin 
colony, which was taken during the mating 
petiod of 1909, and shows its growth from 
one pair four years ago. The house 
figured was built, during leisure time, from 
poplar and pine, and is divided into twelve 
compartments, the entrances being spaced 
as far apart as possible with separate 
perches, to prevent quarreling. The first 
Martin to arrive last spring was a male, 
A SUCCESSFUL MARTIN COLONY 
Photographed by J. S. Becker, Clyde, Ohio 
during the first week in April. When first 
seen, he was sitting on the post that sup- 
ported the house the year before, evidently 
waiting for the house to be erected, as he 
flew into it the moment it was raised. 
Others came later and, by the first week 
in May, the twelve compartments were all 
occupied. Nesting commenced during the 
second week in May, and by July 15 the 
young had all flown. They numbered 
nearly forty. To demonstrate the extreme 
usefulness of these birds as insect-destroy- 
ers, one needs only to inspect their abode 
after the young have flown out, to see the 
mass of shells and wings left from the 
insects fed to the young.—JAs. S. BECKER, 
Clyde, Ohio. 
Our Duty to Our Bird Tenants 
In your July-August, 1909, issue, I note 
a letter from a Chicago bird-lover, “Our 
duty to our bird tenants,” that leads me 
to express to you the facts that have pre- 
sented themselves in our locality. We had 
plenty of birds in our suburb, and a small 
garden producing well. A few new neigh- 
bors arrived, each with a pet cat. That was 
two years ago. We have now six cats that 
visit our garden regularly, 
among them a big black bird 
cat. One cat has five black- 
kittens now mature, and there 
are other kittens growing up. 
Last summer half the birds 
were no more. This year we 
hardly had a bird left and 
quite a number had stopped 
migrating in the spring. The 
consequence is that I never 
knew there could be? so 
many kinds of destructive 
worms and bugs to the square 
foot. Our ground is the same, 
the care the same, the climate 
unchanged, and we have 
plenty of water. The flow- 
ers and vegetables were poor 
and about a failure, as the 
bugs and worms had to be 
fought on everything. 
We license dogs as a public 
