Plate XXVIII. 



PROGNE PURPUREA-Purple Martin. 



The Purple Martin arrives in Central Ohio during the last week in March, unless the spring is 

 unusually severe, as was that of the present year, 1881 ; their coming is then delayed until the first or 

 second week in April. For three consecutive springs, previous to the last, the Martins which occupy a 

 box near my office, made their first appearance on March the 24th; a circumstance I have just discovered 

 by looking OA^er my notes, and one which seems to me remarkable. 



Immediately upon arrival, the birds which have formerly had homes in the locality, take posses- 

 sion of them, but they do not begin building before the latter part of May, or the first of June, when 

 warm weather is assured. A single pair of birds usually rears but one brood during the season. 



LOCALITY: 



The Martins have become so domesticated that they follow man wherever he goes, provided, he 

 offers the proper inducements in the way of building places. In town or country they are equally satis- 

 fied. The majority of nests are now built in boxes erected for the purpose, and in crevices and holes 

 about buildings. The window-caps and cornices of buildings often seem designed especially for their use. 

 The birds, however, which still hold sacred the traditions of their ancestors, are to be found along river- 

 bottoms, about the narrow strips of tall, old trees, and similar spots, where they find accommodations for 

 nesting in the deserted houses of the Yellow-hammer, and of other Woodpeckers, and in the natural cavi- 

 ties of dead or deformed limbs. 



POSITION: 



The artificial houses in which they build, as well as the natural cavities, vaiy greatly in their dis- 

 tance from the ground, and in their suiToundings and position. Grenerally, the bottom of the cavity is 

 upon a horizontal plane; but sometimes it is convex, concave, a plane inclined, or an irregular combina- 

 tion of all, in either case, it is leveled by a mixss of well-packed material, upon which the nest proper rests. 



MATERIALS : 



The materials of the nest vary with the surroundings, and with the shape and size of the selected 

 cavity. When the cavity is large and irregular, coarse straws, dried leaves, and even sticks are used in 

 construction. In towns, straws, strings, grass, and such other like material as may be at hand, without 

 much uniformity, are used. In the country, poultry feathers are often a prominent feature of the struc- 

 ture. It is impossible to state what constitutes an average nest, as the quantity and quality of material 

 is so variable. I have seen eggs laid upon simply a few straws, so arranged upon the level floor, as to 

 make a slight concavity, but so few in number, as to permit the floor to be seen at the center of the 

 nest. While, at other times, the center of the nest is three or four inches thick. I have never been 

 able to procure a nest from a tree ; as those discovered have been inaccessible. It is probable that more 



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