

EFFECTS ON THE MARTIN. 85 



From S. D. Crites, Elida, Allen County, Ohio : 



I Lave watched the battles between Sparrows and Martins, by the hour. Now 

 there is not a Martin to be seen in the country. (September 4, 1886. Present about 

 ten years.) 



Frequently the Sparrow is unsuccessful in its first attempts to dis- 

 lodge Martins, but ultimately it succeeds. Many observers testify to 

 the fact that the two species live peaceably in different compart- 

 ments of the same box, and some of these observers have witnessed the 

 struggle which doubtless always precedes such a truce. Probably in 

 every such case the contest is renewed each spring soon after the return 

 of the migrants ; and the entering wedge having been once secured, the 

 Sparrows keep pushing until sooner or later the migrants find it easier 

 to go elsewhere than to continue the fruitless struggle. 



Dr. F. H. Kimball, of Rockford, 'Winnebago County, 111., writes : 



Purple Martins formerly nested in the hollow work of an iron bridge. The Spar- 

 rows in vain attempted to dislodge them, and now live in neutrality with them. 

 (September 28, 1886. Present about eight years.) 



Dr. Daniel Berry writes from Carmi, White County, 111. : 



In 1872, 1 built a business house on the site of a church. Over the door of the church 

 one or two pairs of Black Martins had a home. In the new building they found su- 

 perior facilities for lodgment, of which they availed themselves, and increased 

 wonderfully. This summer the colony must have been more than a thousand. On 

 their arrival in the spring they rind their quarters in possession of the Sparrows, when 

 the fight for ejectment begins. The Martins have been strong enough to regain pos- 

 session so far, but this is not always the case. When the Sparrows in force attack a 

 pair of Martins or Bluebirds nesting in boxes they invariably drive them away. (Oc- 

 tober 6, 1886. Present about ten years.) 



Herman Koerner, of Birdseye, Dubois County, Ind., writes : 



I have a bird-house with twelve apartments which was occupied in 1885 by six 

 pairs of Martins, but was taken possession of in the winter of 1885-86 by the Spar- 

 row. When the Martins returned there was a week's war, then a compromise, and 

 each took six rooms. (October 7, 1886. Present about three years.) 



Dr. Geo. H. Jennings, of Jewett City, Few London County, Conn., 

 writes : 



Martins and Bluebirds attempt to reclaim former nesting sites when occupied by 

 the Sparrow, but as often fail as succeed. It is common to see a bird-box occupied 

 in part by Martins and in part by Sparrows. Often they thus settle down after more 

 than a week of quarreling. White-bellied Swallows, Wrens, Martins, aud Bluebirds 

 often resist ; the three latter sometimes effectually. (September 11, 1836. Present 

 more than eleven years.) 



Robert W 7 . Curtiss, Stratford, Fairfield County, Conn., writes : 



The Sparrows build nests every spring in my martin-box, but when the Martins 

 come in full force they drive them out. (October 11, 1886. Present about fourteen 

 ^ears.) 



M. S. Lord, of Saranac, Mich., writes: 



I have had a martin-house for the last eight years, aud the Martins always take 

 possession, when they come, although the Sparrows occupy it before and after. (Oc- 

 tober 8, 1886. Present seven years.) 



