52 
The Purple Martin 
they journey southward, apparently, these flocks increase in size, and the 
writer has on several occasions watched the birds coming to their roosts 
in the evening in astonishing numbers, estimated at 100,000. They seem 
to prefer a grove, near a human habitation, for their nightly rendezvous. 
They create no little comment in the neighborhood because of their num- 
bers, and by their noisy chatter and fluttering, particularly during 
the early part of the night. There is usually little prejudice against them, 
but not infrequently the people in the neighborhood make excuse that 
the birds are a nuisance, and shoot into the flocks when they come to roost. 
At Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina, a great number of these 
migrating birds gathered, in the summer of 1905, and chose as their 
nightly roosting-place the grove of a summer hotel. The proprietor, 
wishing to rid himself of them, invited a number of his neighbors, who, 
lying in wait for the birds, fired into the trees and continued to shoot 
until the ground was literally covered with the dead and dying birds, and 
for days afterward wounded Martins could be found fluttering about 
the neighboring lawns and roadside. Estimates of the number of birds 
killed vary from 8,000 to 15,000. 
On hearing of this tragic violation of the law the North Carolina 
Audubon Society sent out a warden to prosecute the offending parties, 
twelve of whom were convicted and fined in the local court. The warden, 
to prevent any further slaughter, arranged a number of tar-barrels to 
the windward of the grove and fired them in the evening, thus creating 
a dense smoke, which, drifting over the grove, drove the birds away, 
and they were not seen again. A citizen of the place said it had been 
very noticeable that since the appearance of Martins there had been less 
mosquitos than for many years previous, and he thought that the com- 
munity would never again allow these valuable birds to be slaughtered 
in that locality. 
With comparatively little effort, many persons could induce the 
Martins to spend the summer with them by providing suitable nesting 
accommodations for the little wanderers when in spring they come flying 
northward, and eagerly scan from the sky the yards and fields in the 
hope of finding some inviting place to tarry and build their nests. 
Classification and Distribution 
The Purple Martin belongs to the Order P asset es, the Suborder 0 seines, and 
the Family Hirundinidce. Its scientific name is Progne subis subis. It is found in 
North and South America except on the Pacific Coast. It breeds from New Bruns- 
wick south to the Gulf Coast. It passes the winter principally in Brazil. 
A subspecies, the Western Martin, P. s. hesperia, breeds from British Columbia 
to Cape San Lucas ; its winter range is unknown. 
This and other Educational Leaflets are for sale, at 3 cents each, by the National Association of 
Audubon Societies, 1974 Broadway, New York City. Lists given on request. 
