4 



marked contrast to the white of the belly, anal region, and under tail-coverts. He adds : "Six 

 Cuban and two Floridan specimens of this well-marked species are before me. The adult females 

 and immature males (of which there are four from Cuba and two from Florida in the N. M. 

 collection — the latter from Cape Florida and Clearwater) are exceedingly distinct in plumage from 

 those of P. subis [i. e., P. purpurea] . In fact, they resemble so closely corresponding plumages 

 of P. dominicensis , that I am unable to state bow they can be distinguished." In the face of 

 this strong testimony from the pen of so great an authority as Mr. Ridgway, we can only suppose 

 that we have not yet had a specimen of the true P. cryptoleuca before us. A specimen sent by 

 Mr. Scott as the hen of P. cryptoleuca from Tarpon Springs, and procured by him on the 17th 

 of April, is identical with the female bird from Halfday, Illinois, in the British Museum. 



Hub. North America, not ranging into the extreme north, but geuerally distributed. Wintering in 

 South America. 



The Purple Martin is widely distributed over North America, but does not go so far 

 north as some of the other Swallows. It does not find a place in the different works on 

 the ornithology of Alaska. Professor Coues says that " The breeding-range of the 

 sj)ecies coincides with the whole distribution in North America wherever suitable 

 nesting-places can be found, and the bird is, moreover, resident in some portions. Our 

 birds are known to come over the border very early in the spring or in February, and 

 gradually spread over the country, reaching the highest latitudes by the middle or latter 

 part of May. Such early appearance subjects them to painful vicissitudes of the weather, 

 large numbers having been known to perish in sudden storms or cold snaps." 



Dr. C. Hart Merriam, writing on the migration of birds in the spring of 1884, refers 

 to the present species as follows : — " The common Purple Martin is a species by which to 

 trace migration, for it is well known and widely distributed, and its habit of occupying 

 boxes erected for its use in towns and villages renders its movements far easier of 

 observation than in the case of forest-dwelling birds. In winter the Martin visits South 

 America, but the last of the fall migrants rarely leave our southern border before 

 December. Returning, the advance guard usually enters the Gulf States towards the latter 

 part of Pebruary. During March, the great army arrives and spreads over the whole of 

 the Southern States, the van appearing in many parts of Virginia, Kentucky, Southern 

 Illinois, Missouri, and Kansas, some enterprising individuals reaching even as far north 

 as latitude 40°. If not retarded by cold, the first week of April finds them pushing 

 swiftly northward, and by the end of the month they have distributed themselves over 

 nearly the whole of the United States east of the Pocky Mountains, and are already 

 common in some parts of Canada. The exact time of their appearance at any given 

 locality in the Northern States varies as much as two weeks from year to year. During 

 the spring of 1SS4 they were recorded from Water Valley, Miss., March 1 ; Gainesville, 

 Texas, March 5 ; Caddo, Indian Territory, and Newport, Arkansas, March 9 ; St. Louis, 

 Mo., March 24 ; Manhattan, Kansas, March 25 ; Southern Iowa, March 30. During 

 April they move through Northern Illinois and parts of Wisconsin and Minnesota, 

 arriving at latitude 45° about the end of the month. May 19 they reached Portage la 



