Tee 0D OLIN b, O bel ee tN 35 
it marked 105. What it would have been on the sunny side, where at the 
time thermometers were ranging as high as 130 and over, we can only con- 
jecture! Therefore, taking these as examples to work by, can it reasonably 
be expected that young Martins in the nest can submit to such temperatures 
and live? And, furthermore, isn’t it a barbarous proceeding on our part to 
expect them to do it? And, again, can the average Martin House, many 
of which have been made of one-half inch material, te looked upon as 
nothing short of being a death-trap? 
Occasionally the Martins themselves will show good judgment in 
selecting a nest location, as the writer once observed in Texas where a pair 
had built their nest on the top of a gallery-column, with a free circulation 
of air about.them. ‘here they were successfully raising a brood. 
‘The principal reason why young Martins are so frequently the victims 
of such severe climatic conditions is that they mature so late in the season, 
sometimes not until the very last days of our hottest month, July. There 
are times, too, when even the first days of August will see them clinging | 
tenaciously to their nests, while their companions are calling to them 
eagerly and excitedly from the outside and showing their anxiety for them 
to joint the group. Indeed, it is a most interesting spectacle to witness, when 
they do muster sufficient courage to do it, all hands taking hold and helping 
them to launch out. “Their wing-power, it should ke explained, does not 
develop until quite late. Another factor also enters; young Martins before 
leaving the nest require a certain amount of topping-out food that their 
wings may become sufficiently strengthened. “This consists of the larger 
insects, such as a variety of butterflies, often the large Monarch Butterfly, 
and dragon-flies also. “Chey appear to be particularly fond of that species 
known to entomologists as the Kingly Dragon-fly (d4nax junius), which the 
old birds will travel over miles of territory to secure. 
It is well known that when young Martins forcibly eject themselves 
from nest and chamber, tumbling helplessly to the ground, that, after a few 
futile attempts on the part of the old birds to encourage them to rise and 
join them, they leave the young to die. In this respect Martins show far 
less regard for their young than the House Sparrow. 
However, should the young after leaving the box, from lack of strength 
alight on low bushes and shrubbery, the adults will feed them, and care for 
them until they are sufficiently strengthened to join the flock. And even 
if the helpless young are returned by hand to the box it is a question 
whether they will remain there long, a habit quite characteristic of most 
birds after having once left their parental abode. However, on rare occa- 
sions, the Martins have teen known to remain and be successfully reared. 
But the writer regards it as something of a gamble. Such then is a 
part of the early life-history of these most interesting birds. 
With reference to house-plans, they perhaps may speak for themselves. 
Figures giving dimensions of the different parts are given, so that if 
rag 
