The Purple Martin in the South. 
BY W. B. IIINTON, S BRING V A LE, GA. 
The annual visits of no bird meet with warm- 
er welcome than those of the Purple Martin 
(Progene purpurea). As a protector of the poul- 
try-yard against the depredations of hawks, he 
is held in high and general esteem by our farm- 
er friends, who attest their appreciation of his 
worth by erecting for his reception tall poles 
from which swing a number of capacious 
gourds. At this juncture it may be proper to 
state the curious fact that the Martin prefers a 
gourd to a box as a nesting place. I have fre- 
j quently put this matter to a test and invariably 
had the case settled in favor of the. gourd. 
Why this is true lam at a loss to explain, un- 
less it results from the shape of the gourd 
being better adapted to nesting puposes — con- 
forming as it does to the shape of the nest. 
Or, may not the pendent position of the gourd 
afford greater security against the intrusions of 
such robbers as the Blue Jay ( Cyanocitta cris- 
tata ), Loggerhead Shrike (Collyris luclovicianus) 
and the common house cat? 
If there are among your Northern readers 
any not familiar with the primitive method be- 
fore mentioned, of providing homes for the 
Martin, and who would like to make a trial of 
it for the mere sake of variety, let them pro- 
cure a half-dozen or more gourds, not less each 
than six inches in shortest diameter, and about 
three inches from the bottom, holes just large 
enough for the easy ingress and egress of the 
desired occupants, and with strong strings 
| passed through tire necks of the gourds, tie 
them closely and securely to the outer ends of 
the horizontal limbs of a pole, not forgetting in 
the preparation of the gourds to bore two or 
three gimlet-holes in the bottom to drain off the 
water during severe rains. 
In this latitude (31° 45') the Purple Martin 
arrives regularly by the first day of March, the 
first arrival this season being noted by me the 
27th of February. On the 22nd of February it 
was reported that a pair had that morning been 
seen upon the pole in my garden, but as the 
birds did not come under my personal observa- 
tion I will not venture here to commit the ar- 
rival to record. Had I seen the birds, however, 
I should not have been surprised, for the peach 
and plum had been in bloom nearly two weeks, 
I and the maple was red with blossoms. 
The most interesting period of the Martin's 
stay with us, embraces the interval between 
the date of arrival and the commencement of 
nidification. During those six or eight weeks 
he is all fuss and flutter, each member of the 
colony endeavoring to make more noise than 
his neighbor, and each is eminently successful. 
It is pleasing to watch them rise to the upper 
air for the purpose of feeding, then suddenly 
furl their wings and pitch head-long for the 
pole from a point at an angle of forty-five de- 
grees and at a height of three or four hundred 
feet. The entire descent is made with wings 
closed tightly against the sides; and often the 
most graceful deflection from a direct line is 
accomplished in order to reach the entrance to 
a gourd or a box that may chance to be in a po- 
sition contrary to the point of descent. In 
these aerial races, for they are nothing else, 
I have observed that the bird which arrives 
earliest in the spring and makes first choice of 
a nesting-place, always leads, seeming to be 
afraid that some other member of the company 
will out-strip him, seize and take possession of 
his own particular property. This leader inva- 
riably terminates his descent only by plung- 
ing into his little room, as if to renew his 
claims and assert anew his right of posses- 
sion ; but he no sooner enteres than he emerges 
again and is as light hearted and garrulous as 
before. 
The gregarious nature of these little birds is 
food for thought to the ornithological student, 
while the perfect harmony in which they dwell 
together is a characteristic that must attract 
the attention of the most thoughtless ob- 
server. Being sensitive to cold they not in- 
frequently suffer in consequence of the cool 
weather that sometimes succeeds their early 
arrival. After a cool spell of wind and rain 
once that lasted two or three days, I counted 
ten emerging one behind another, from a single 
large gourd. 
About the first of May nest-building begins ; 
a piece of labor that devolves mainly upon the 
female, her liege in his suit of glossy black es- 
corting her with clownish gallantry back and 
forth in search of building material. An ex- 
amination, for many seasons, of the old nests 
reveals the information that thin scales of pine 
bark constitute the body of the nest, to which a 
few grass straws and fine bits of weed are add- 
ed. I would be glad to know what material 
they employ in lieu of the bark in divisions of 
the country where the pine does not grow. If 
the male manifests his industry in constructing 
the nest, I am not sure that he does not ex- 
hibit more daring in the defence of the young; 
though both birds display admirable courage 
when attacking a foe. Nor do they wait until 
they have hatched before giving proof of their 
prowess, but are willing at any season to wage 
war upon a recognized enemy. I witnessed one, 
yesterday afternoon drive a Sparrow Hawk 
( Faleo sparverius ) before him at a furious 
rate. 
O.&o. XII. May. 1887 
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