342 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



regret to add that swallows do not seem to be increasing in the more 

 cultivated portions of the country as they ought, but this is not due to 

 the destruction of forests, thickets and marshes, for they are birds of the 

 open, and of all our native birds the swallows ought to be benefited rather 

 than injured by the advance of culture conditions. The trouble is largely 

 with the modern farmers who do not permit the swallows to enter their 

 barns and nest upon the rafters or beneath the eaves. The English sparrow 

 nuisance is partly responsible for this condition. Farmers close their 

 barns against the sparrows and the swallows can not enter. If the swallow 

 entrances were closed from September i to April lo, the sparrows would 

 not choose the barn as their home; then if the swallows were let in and 

 narrow ledges provided on some of the rafters and under the eaves, and 

 protected with the gun against the sparrows, they might increase again 

 among us. The author even believes that where no other suitable sites 

 are found over considerable stretches of country, artificial sandpits should 

 be constructed for the Bank swallows to occupy, and where hollow trees 

 are no longer found along the stream courses and the lakeside, hollow 

 limbs or boxes should be provided in abundance for the Tree swallows to 

 occupy, and every village should be provided with several martin houses 

 so that instead of a dozen towns where martins are found in abundance, 

 we might have them in every city and village throughout the State. 



Progne subis subis (Linnaeus) 

 Purple Martin 



Plate 88 



Hirundo subis Linnaeus. Syst. Nat. Ed. lo. 1758. 1:192 

 Hirundo purpurea DeKay. Zool. N. Y. 1844. pt 2, p. 37, fig. 61 

 Progne subis subis A. 0. U. Check List. Ed. 3. 1910. p. 290. No. 611 



progne, daughter of Pandion, fabled to have been changed to a swallow; siAbis, 

 Lat., some bird mentioned by Pliny 



Description. Our largest swallow. Tail moderately forked. Male: 

 Glossy bluish black. Female: Similar, but under parts brownish gray tipped 

 with whitish. Young: Resemble the female. 



Length 7.5-8.5 inches; extent 15-16; wing 5-5.6; tail 3-3.5; bill .5. 



