TREE-MARTIN 27 
TREE-MARTIN 
Progne tapera 
Upper parts dull brown ; tail-feathers blackish brown; throat ashy 
white; fore neck and chest ashy brown; abdomen white; length 
7 inches. Sexes alike. 
Tue Tree-Martin is more slender and has a greater 
extent of wing than the Purple Martins ; and instead 
of the beautiful dark purple (their prevailing colour) 
its entire upper plumage is dusky brown, the under 
surface white. But if these differences of structure 
and hue merely serve to show that it is not a 
very near relative of the other species, those ex- 
hibited in its habits remove it very far indeed from 
them. 
The Tree-Martin is a garrulous bird, and no 
sooner arrives early in September, than we are 
apprised of the circumstance by the notes which 
the male and female incessantly sing in concert, 
fluttering and waving their wings the while, and 
seeming quite beside themselves with joy at their 
safe arrival ; for invariably they arrive already mated, 
and they probably pair for life. Their language is 
more varied, the intonation bolder and freer than 
that of our other Swallows. The length of the notes 
can be varied at pleasure ; some are almost harsh, 
others silvery or liquid, as of trickling drops of 
water: all have a glad sound; and many have that 
peculiar character of some bird-notes of shaping 
