and resources, will no longer ûy from the master of the house; desperate struggles now
frequently take place at the entrance, the birds again and again dropping to the ground
clutched fiercely together, and again hurrying up only to resume tbe combat. Victory
at last declares itself for the aggressors, and they busy themselves carrying in materials
for their nest, screaming their jubilant notes all tbe time as if in token of triumph.
“ Tbe brave aud industrious Oven-birds, dispossessed of their home, retire to spend
their childless summer together, for tbe male and female never separate ; and when tbe
autumn rains have supplied them with wet clay, and tbe sense of defeat is w'orn off, they
cheerfully begin their building-operations afresli. Tliis is not, however, tbe invariable
result of tbe conflict. To tbe superior swiftness of tbe Martin the Oven-bird opposes
greater strength, and, it might be added, a greater degree of zeal and fury than can
animate its advei’sary. The contest is thus nearly an equal one ; and the Oven-bird,
particularly when its young are ah*eady batched, is often able to maintain its own. But
the Martins never suffer defeat ; for when unable to take tbe citadel by storm, they fall
back ou their dribbling system of warfare, which they keep up till the young leave the
nest, when they take possession before it has grown cold.
“ The Martin makes its own nest chiefly of large feathers, and lays four eggs, long,
pointed, and pure white.
“ It will be remarked that in all its habits above mentioned this bird differs widely
from tbe preceding species. It also differs greatly from them in its manner of flight.
The Purple Martins move with surprising grace and celerity, the wings extended to
their utmost ; they also love to sail in circles high up in the air, or about the summits
of tall trees, and particularly during a high wind. At such times several individuals
arc usually seen together, and all seem striving to outvie each other in tbo beauty of
then- evolutions.
“ Tbe Tree-Martin is never seen to soar about in circles ; and though when hawking
after flies and moths it sweeps tbe surface of tbe grass with amazing swiftness, at other
times it has a flight strangely slow and of a fashion peculiar to itself : tbe long wings
are depressed as much as those of a Wild Duck when dropping on to tbe water, and are
constantly agitated with tremulous flutteriiigs, short and rapid as those of a butterfly.
“ Neither is this bird gregarious like all its congeners, though occasionally an
individual associates for a while with Swallows of another species ; but this only when
they are resting on fences or trees, for as soon as they take flight it leaves them. Once
or twice, when for some mysterious cause the autumnal migration has been delayed long
past its usual time, I have seen them unite in small flocks; but this is very rare. As a
rule they have no meetings preparatory to migration, but skim about tbe fields and open
plains iu un-Swallow-liko solitude, and suddenly disappear without liaving warned us of
their intended departure.”
Mr. Durnford and Mr. Gibson have also given interesting accounts of tbe habits of
this species near Buenos Ayres. Tbe former gentleman observes :—“ It has a peculiar
habit of raising its wings over its back iu tbo midst of its aerial evolutions, aud then
dropping some distance through the air before taking flight again. In the summer
these birds congregate in large parties, and seem never tired of circling about tbe topmost
branches of some wide-spreading ombo-tree, which is their favourite resort.”
Mr. Gibson has likewise only found it breeding in tbe Oven-bird’s nest, which, he
says, “ it lines with a pile of feathers formed into a nest. Grass, wool, and hair are
sometimes added; but the feathers are the principal material, and the amount is usually
sufiicient to fill up tbe interior of the Oven-bird’s nest. The eggs, so far as I know,
never exceed five in number, are pure white, and average 40 x f o-*’
He believes it to be as abundant near Buenos Ayres as P. purpurea*, but says that,
owing to its frequenting the woods and from the nature of its nidification, it is more
diffused and appears scarcer. “ It is also about a month later in coming, appearing in
the first week in October, though it leaves at the same’time as P. purptirea*, the end of
March. As it ai-rives after tbe last-named species, it is proportionately later inbreeding,
while, from being parasitical on Furnarius rufus, tbe date of its nesting varies greatly.
Eggs are most generally taken iu December; but I once found a nestful of young birds
(full-fledged, it is true) as late as the beginning of March.”
Mr. White fancied that this Martin was not particular as to the locality in which it
breeds; and iu Ui-uguay Mr. Barrows thinks that they may nest in natural hollows of
trees, as he noticed several hovering about Woodpeckers’ boles in a tall dead tree, though
he also found it appropriating the deserted nest of F. rufus.
In Brazil, Natterer also noticed that tbe species w'as parasitic on tbe Oven-bird;
but in Upper Amazonia Mr. E. Bartlett found it nesting in September iu holes in sandy
banks, tbe nest being made of fine dried grass or fibres; the holes were sometimes two
feet in depth.
In the Campos of Brazil it is recorded by Burmeister as breeding in boles of trees;
and in Peru, according to Mr. Stolzmann, it nests under the roofs of houses, and
Mr. Wyatt also observed it similarly nesting at Ocana in tbe Magdalena Valley.
Tbe figure in tbe Plate is drawn from a specimen procured by Mr. Wyatt during
his visit to Colombia, and the descriptions are founded ou tbe series of skins in the
British Museum.
* [F . domeatica or P . fu r c a ta ?]