May, the other in July, The nest is huilt of hay, sometimes vvitli twigs intermixed and
is lined with feathers.”
In the District of Columbia Mr, Eiohmond says it is rather common. There are
several nesting-sites where the Martins still “ hold tho fort,” despite tho English
Sparrows, notably tho Masonic Temple and the Post OITico Department building.” In
his paper on the summer birds of the Pennsylvania Alleghanies, Mr. Dwight says that
some of these birds were nesting at Altoona, and there is every likelihood of its being
found on tho mountains. In Eoulton County, Kentucky, according to Mr. Pindar, it is
a common summer resident, and the same is recorded of Roane County, Tennessee, hy
Mr. Pox. Mr. Langdon says that in the Chilhowel Jlountains, of Tennessee, he only
noticed it at Knoxville and Marysville in August.
Mr. Brewster says that in Western North Carolina the present species is common
in most of the towns and villages, building chiefly, if not wholly, in the Martin-hoxes;
and Mr. Loomis states that in the parts of South Carolina he visited, the birds nested
wherever gourds wero put up for their accommodation.
Mr. Coombs, wilting from the Calumet plantation, in the parish of St. Mary’s,
Louisiana, says that tho Purple Martin was common from April to August, breeding
wherever gourds or boxes were prepared for the birds. He states that they generaUy
disappeared quite early in the autumn, tho last brood heing usually fledged hy the
middle of August. Writing of the birds of Bayou Sara, Mr. Beckham sa)s that the
Purple Martin was abundant in the towns, but was seen nowhere else.
Many of the western localities for the species will require verifioatioii, as tho distribution
of Frogne purpurea and P. hesperia is by no means satisfactorily determined, and
the whole subject requires strict examination. Mr. Mearns says that in tho Arizona
mountains the Purple Martin is “ an abundant summer resident throughout this high
region, especially near water. It usually builds its nest in holes in the largest deld
pines, several pairs living in tho same tree. The Martin of this region, while differing
somewhat from the Eastern bird, is not tho subspecies P . hesperia recently described by
Mr. Brewster, to whom I am indebted for the means of making the'comparison.”
Mr. Scott states that it was rather uncommon about Tucson. In Colorado, according to
Mr. Drew, it breeds from COOO to 8000 feet.
Mr. Honshaw, in his ‘ Report of the Exploration of the 100th Meridian,’ writes as
follows:—
“ This species is universally distributed throughout the United States, and in the
West its abundance is fuUy as groat as in tho East. It occurs throughout Utah, being
found in tho vicinity of towns, and breeding plentifully iu boxes placed for its convenience,
as at Salt Lake City, or retiring in largo colonies to tho solitudes of the
mountains, wliero it rears its young in tho abandoned Woodpeckers’ holes. Wherever
fouud, it is never content to remain isolated in pairs, but associates together in colonics
of greater or less number. Farther south, in Now Mexico and Arizona, they are of no
less common occurrence, but seemingly are more confined to the mountains, though this.
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perhaps, is due to the lack of timber in the lowlands, and a consequent want of tlie
necessary facilities for rearing the young, rather than to any natural preference for high
regions. About the middle of August, while in extreme South-eastern Arizona, I noticed
each evening immense numbers of these birds and the Cliff-Swallows flying swiftly overhead,
their course leading them directly south. They only paused now and then to catch
an insect, immediately resuming their onward flight. All the actions of these birds
seem to indicate that the migration at this early date had begun, yet I have found in
quite a number of instances the parents feeding the just-fledged young as late as
August 22iid.”
A specimen from Mount Shasta, in the British Museum, seems to us to be true
P . purpurea, aud the following note by Mr. Townsend appears to refer to this species
“ Martins were not common in the localities where I collected. A few were noticed
about some buildings at the west base of Mount Shasta in midsummer. A colony of a
dozen or more was found established in a large dead pine on the edge of the forest at the
eastern base of Mount Lassen, on Juno G. The only nest I could reach occupied a large
decayed cavity twenty feet from the ground. It contained four fresh eggs. There were
other nests higher up.”
In Western Texas Mr. Lloyd says that the Purple Martin is plentiful in summer
in suitable places. It breeds in colonics, arriving towards the end of February and
departing about the 1st of November. At San Antonio it is common in summer,
according to Mr. Attwater. At Fort Brown, in Southern Texas, Ur. Merrill only
observed tbe species during migration, but he noticed their arrival as early as the
20th of January.
In Florida the resident species is supposed to be Progne cryptoleuca. Mr. Scott has
forwarded several specimens from Tarpon Springs, but after a careful examination we
have been unable to discover any specific characters for the recognition of this supposed
species. We add Mr. Scott’s note on the Purple Martins
“ It seems to me probable that all Martins found breeding on the Gulf Coast of
Florida, at least as far north as Tarpon Springs, are referable to P. cryptoleuca, and
though the material that I have before me is limited, yet one of the male birds is fairly
intermediate between P. subis proper and what I think will ultimately liave to be
considered as the subspecies P. mbis cryptoleuca, though the latter is now given specific
rank. I have submitted material collected in the vicinity of Tarpon Springs to Mr. J. A.
Allen, who concurs in the above views and from whose letters on the subject I quote as
follows : ‘ The Martins I should refer to Progne subis cryptoleuca, of which the single
female and two of tho males arc fairly typical. The other male I should consider a«
intermediate between P . subis aud P . subis cryptoleuca, which latter I believe at least
only a geographical race of P. subis.’ As the birds are abundant in the brceding-season
in the town of Tarjion Springs, and as I am expecting additional representatives from at
least two points of the south on tho Gulf Coast, as well as from Key West, I hope at an
early date with more abundant material to deal conclusively with the subject. At
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