﻿FIELD AND FOREST. 215 



FIELD RECORD. 



Blue-birds Besieged by Martins. — It is a fact well known to 

 every observing person whose privilege it is to reside in the country, 

 that a martin-box is a hereditary establishment. These birds consider 

 their right to their home as valid as that of the landed proprietor. 



At one time very few old Maryland homesteads were without seve- 

 ral martin-boxes — in fact it was considered an act of humanity to place 

 one near a farm yard, as the birds feed upon the larvae of the flies, 

 and thus save the dumb beasts much suffering. It was to gain posses- 

 sion of one of these hereditary homes that gave rise to the following 

 amusing circumstance. The blue birds came very early in the season 

 and took possession of a martin -bbx — fixed up the nests, laid their 

 eggs, and some ot them were incubating when the martins arrived. 

 Considerable excitement was evinced by both parties ; they held a 

 long parley, when war was declared, and a terrible fight ensued, in 

 which the blue-birds were victorious. It was hard to tell which were 

 the loudest, both parties are noisy at the best of times, but upon this 

 occasion the clatter was so great and so long continued that it drew 

 attention. 



After the defeat the martins drew off to an adjacent tree and held a 

 council. They then made another attack upon the blue-birds, and 

 had a desperate fight, but were again repulsed. After a short rest 

 they collected their scattered forces, surrounded the box and went to 

 work in good earnest. This was a fearful head to head fight, followed 

 by a total defeat to the martins. Feathers floated about in profusion, 

 and not a few martins had bald scalps and scratched eyes. A long 

 parley now took place, and there was a truce for two days, during 

 which time perfect silence prevailed, though the martins in small de- 

 tached companies were going to and fro. Such sudden and continued 

 quiet after so much noise and fighting, coupled with strange move- 

 ments on the part of the martins, aroused curiosity and led to investi- 

 gation. The mystery was soon unraveled, they had effectually be- 

 sieged the blue-birds. Every hole in the box was filled up and covered 

 with mud as tightly and smoothly as if it had been done with a plas- 

 terer's trowel. As soon as the mud was cleared away, the poor half 

 starved blue-birds evacuated and never returned. The martins moved 

 in at once and proclaimed themselves lords of the manor. 



