51 
The Purple Martin 
While their absence may partly be accounted for by the persecutions 
of the English Sparrow, and to mortality among the young birds occa- 
sioned by cold weather or prolonged storms during the nesting season, 
it is now known that their disappearance is in no small measure owing 
to their destruction in the South during their migration. 
In an issue of the Charleston, South Carolina, Post, some time ago, 
the following item appeared: “The sport of shooting Bats [Nighthawks] 
and Martins is practiced every year all over the State, and thousands of 
these insect-destroyers are annually slain.” The editor says : “The officers 
in many counties are looking out for violators of the bird-law and intend 
to stop the evil practice.” 
The Martins begin to prepare for their migration as the close of the 
summer approaches, and the young become strong of wing. They gather 
in restless flocks about steeples and tall trees, fluttering and twittering 
as if anxious to be off. Audubon has described their flight: 
It is during these migrations, reader, that the power of flight possessed 
by these birds can be best ascertained, and more especially when they 
encounter a violent storm of wind. They meet the gust, and appear to 
slide along the edges of it, as if determined not to lose one inch of what 
they have gained. The foremost front the storm with pertinacity, ascend- 
ing or plunging along the skirts of the opposing currents, and entering 
their undulating recesses, as if determined to force their way through, 
while the rest follow close behind, all huddled together into such compact 
masses as to appear like a black spot. Not a twitter is then to be heard 
from them by the spectator below, but the instant the 
farther edge of the current is doubled, they relax their 
efforts, to refresh themselves, and twitter in united 
accord, as if congratulating each other on the successful issue of the 
contest. 
The usual flight of this bird . . . although graceful and easy, 
cannot be compared in swiftness with that of the Barn Swallow. Yet 
the Martin is fully able to distance any bird not of its own genus. They 
are very expert at bathing and drinking while on the wing, when over a 
large lake or river, giving a sudden motion to the hind part of the body, 
as it comes into contact with the water, thus dipping themselves in it, and 
then rising and shaking their body, like a water spaniel, to throw off 
the water. 
Migratory 
Flight 
T. Gilbert Pearson, the Secretary of this Association, contributes 
the following story about Martins in North Carolina, and adds : 
This is one of the wild creatures which increased rapidly with the 
advance of civilization in the United States until recent years, and its 
present decrease must in a large measure be owing to the persecution 
it is receiving to-day in many localities in the Southern States. 
Martins are ^accustomed to gather in large flocks during the latter 
part of summer for the purpose of roosting in some favored grove. As 
