170 



Genus I.— HIRUNDO, Linn. SWALLOW. 



Characters as above; tail emarginate or forked. 



THE PURPLE MARTIN. 



Hirujvdo purpurea, Linn. 

 PLATE XLV.— Male and Female. 



The Purple Martin makes its appearance in the City of New Orleans from 

 the 1st to the 9th of February, occasionally a few days earlier than the first 

 of these dates, and is then to be seen gambolling through the air, over the 

 city and the river, feeding on many sorts of insects, which are there found 

 in abundance at that period. 



It frequently rears three broods whilst with us. I have had several 

 opportunities, at the period of their arrival, of seeing prodigious flocks 

 moving over that city or its vicinity, at a considerable height, each bird 

 performing circular sweeps as it proceeded, for the purpose of procuring 

 food. These flocks were loose, and moved either eastward, or towards the 

 north-west, at a rate not exceeding four miles in the hour, as I walked under 

 one of them with ease for upwards of two miles, at that rate, on the 4th of 

 February, 1821, on the bank of the river below the city, constantly looking 

 up at the birds, to the great astonishment of many passengers, who were 

 bent on far different pursuits. My Fahrenheit's thermometer stood at 68°, 

 the weather being calm and drizzly. This flock extended about a mile and 

 a half in length, by a quarter of a mile in breadth. On the 9th of the same 

 month, not far above the Battleground, I enjoyed another sight of the 

 same kind, although I did not think the flock so numerous. 



At the Falls of the Ohio, I have seen Martins as early as the 15th of 

 March, arriving in small detached parties of only five or six individuals, 

 when the thermometer was as low as 2S°, the next day at 45°, and again, in 

 the same week, so low as to cause the death of all the Martins, or to render 

 them so incapable of flying as to sutler children to catch them. By the 25th 

 of the same month, they are generally plentiful about that neighbourhood. 



At St. Genevieve, in the State of Missouri, they seldom arrive before the 



