and resources, will no longer fly from the master of the house ; desperate struggles now 

 frequently take place at the entrance, the birds again and again dropping to the ground 

 clutched fiercely together, and again hurrying up only to resume the combat. Victory 

 at last declares itself for the aggressors, and they busy themselves carrying in materials 

 for their nest, screaming their jubilant notes all the time as if in token of triumph. 



" The brave and industrious Oven-birds, dispossessed of their home, retire to spend 

 their childless summer together, for tbe male and female never separate ; and when the 

 autumn rains have supplied them with wet clay, and the sense of defeat is worn off, they 

 cheerfully begin their building-operations afresh. This is not, however, the invariable 

 result of the conflict. To the superior swiftness of the Martin the Oven-bird opposes 

 greater strength, and, it might be added, a greater degree of zeal and fury than can 

 animate its adversary. The contest is thus nearly an equal one ; and the Oven-bird, 

 particularly when its young are already hatched, is often able to maintain its own. But 

 the Martins never suffer defeat ; for when unable to take the citadel by storm, they fall 

 back on their dribbling system of warfare, which they keep up till the young leave the 

 nest, when they take possession before it has grown cold. 



" The Martin makes its own nest chiefly of large feathers, and lays four eggs, long, 

 pointed, and pure white. 



" It will be remarked that in all its habits above mentioned this bird differs widely 

 from the preceding species. It also differs greatly from them in its manner of flight. 

 The Purple Martins move with surprising grace and celerity, the wings extended to 

 their utmost ; they also love to sail in circles high up in the air, or about the summits 

 of tall trees, and particularly during a high wind. At such times several individuals 

 are usually seen together, and all seem striving to outvie each other in the beauty of 

 their evolutions. 



" The Tree-Martin is never seen to soar about in circles ; and though when hawking 

 after flies and moths it sweeps the surface of the grass with amazing swiftness, at other 

 times it has a flight strangely slow and of a fashion peculiar to itself : the long wings 

 are depressed as much as those of a Wild Duck when dropping on to the water, and are 

 constantly agitated with tremulous flutterings, short and rapid as those of a butterfly. 



" Neither is this bird gregarious like all its congeners, though occasionally an 

 individual associates for a while with Swallows of another species ; but this only when 

 they are resting on fences or trees, for as soon as they take flight it leaves them. Once 

 or twice, when for some mysterious cause the autumnal migration has been delayed long 

 past its usual time, I have seen them unite in small flocks ; but this is very rare. As a 

 rule they have no meetings preparatory to migration, but skim about the fields and open 

 plains in un-Swallowdike solitude, and suddenly disappear without having warned us of 

 their intended departure." 



Mr. Durnford and Mr. Gibson have also driven interesting accounts of the habits of 

 this species near Buenos Ayres. The former gentleman observes : — " It has a peculiar 

 habit of raising its wings over its back in the midst of its aerial evolutions, and then 



