OUR HOME BIRDS. 
67 
in which not a pigeon dare for a moment set its 
foot. 
“ ‘ Some people have large conveniences formed 
for the martins, with many apartments, which are 
usually full-tenanted and occupied regularly every 
spring ; and in such places particular individuals 
have been noted to return to the same box for 
several successive years. Even the solitary Indian 
seems to have a particular respect for this bird. 
The Choctaws and Chickasaws cut off all the top 
branches from a sapling near their cabins, leaving 
the prongs a foot or two in length, on each of which 
they hang a gourd or calabash, properly hollowed 
out for their convenience. On the banks of the 
Mississippi the negroes stick up long canes, with 
the same species of apartment fixed to their tops, 
in which the martins regularly breed/ 
“ The purple martin is eight inches long, of a 
rich, deep purplish-blue, with strong violet reflec- 
tions. The wings and tail, which are brownish- 
black, are edged with the same purple-blue. The 
nest is made of willows, slender straws, hay, and 
feathers, and contains four white eggs. 
“ This species of swallow, ‘ like his half-cousin 
the king-bird, is the terror of crows, hawks, and 
eagles. These he attacks whenever they make their 
appearance, and with such vigor and rapidity that 
