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THE PURPLE MARTIN 



HiRUNDO PURPUREA, LiNN. 



PLATE XXII. Male and Female. 



The Purple Martin makes its appearance in the City of New Orleans 

 from the 1st to the 9th of February, occasionally a few days earlier than 

 the first of these dates, and is then to be seen gambolling through the air, 

 over the city and the river, feeding on many sorts of insects, which are 

 there found in abundance at that period. , 



It frequently rears three broods whilst with us.' I have had several / 

 opportunities, at the period of their arrival, of seeing prodigious flocks ( 

 moving over that city or its vicinity, at a considerable height, each bird 

 performing circular sweeps as it proceeded, for the purpose of procuring 

 food. These flocks were loose, and moved either eastward, or towards 

 the north-west, at a rate not exceeding four miles in the hour, as I walked 

 under one of them with ease for upwards of two miles, at that rate, on 

 the 4th of February 1821, on the bank of the river below the city, con- \ 

 stantly looking up at the birds, to the great astonishment of many pas- 

 sengers, who were bent on far different pursuits. <"My Fahrenheit's ther- 

 mometer stood at 68°, the weather being calm and drizzly. This flock ' 

 extended about a mile and a half in length, by a quarter of a mile in 

 breadth. On the 9th of the same month, not far above the Battle-ground, 

 I enjoyed another sight of the same kind, although I did not think the 

 flock so numerous. 



At the Falls of the Ohio, I have seen Martins as early as the 1 5th of 

 March, arriving in small detached parties of only five or six individuals, 

 when the thermometer was as low as 28°, the next day at 45°, and again, 

 in the same week, so low as to cause the death of all the Martins, or to 

 render them so incapable of flying as to sufl^er children to catch them. 

 By the 25th of the same month, they are generally plentiful about that 

 neighbourhood. 



At St Genevieve, in the State of Missouri, they seldom arrive before 

 the 10th or 15th of April, and sometimes suffer from unexpected returns 

 of frost. At Philadelphia, they are first seen about the 10th of April. 



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