ten t , where shootmg of all hirds at any season is prohibited. At this point the first
Maitms to arrive are seen as early as the first week in March, hut I suspeet these are
boxes m the town do not seom at all common until the first week in April and do not
ne^ „.tel tho middle or last o, that month. Mr. Atkins noticed the Maitens te
noTron t T V “ n ' « frequently during the summer ‘ at a
point on the beach near the pine-trees. Evidently breeds.’ He lias also notod Martins as
rather common migrants at Key JYest, but has not found them breeding at that point ”
3id of March. Ihe species was a common summer resident, breeding where boxes and
gourds were erected for their accommodation. Messrs. Brewster and Chapman record
not recognize the distinctness of P . cryptoleuca, which Mr. Scott believes to he the
Berion te the Caloosahatsohio
M ^M a v f I f and breeds. Wlnlej.piirparea is a migrant onlv.
J l i . Alaynard gives the following note:__
“ The first time I ever met with the Martins in Florida was on Biscayenne Bay
I was rmving along the shore north of Miami, in company with Mr. Henshaw when ive
observed tw-o of these hirds flying about a dead stub in the pine w oods, l i ’ch It Z
point came down to the shore uninterrupted hy a Iinmmock. This was in April and
they were evidently searching for a hreeding-plaoe. In May 1872, Mr. E. C GrLwood
onnd them nesting abundantly on the western bank of Indian lliver, near Fort Capron
Tin style of hnilding appears to be usual with these hirds while in the wilderness but
“ e e t e d T r Po.es
that Z ™ migration, as Mr. Jones mentions
S e p t eZ e if m Z " “ ° f Swallows in
The late Colonel Grayson w r i t e s I found it brooding in Tepie, in tho month of
May, also m Guadalajara; they were nesting under the eaves of houses or in water
spouts It IS seldom seen in the locality of Mazatlan, and then only aecideiital and
migratory, flying very high.”
V e i / c™ r “'’ "P“ '“ “ “ tPo olpine region of
In tho ‘ Biologia Contrali-Amoricaua,’ Messrs. Salvin and Godman have the following
m Z lv ' ™S0. it sterns not improhahlo that this is
and and tth Lat Hh e M. r e'x™ica n lards accompany the more northern ones in thoir winter mAigmraetriiocna,
Against this theory is Professor Sumiohrast’s observation that the bird is resident in the
higher parts of Vera Cruz.”
Several specimens were procured by Mr. Gaumer in the Island of Cozumel in 5Iay,
and Messrs. Salvin and Godman state that they have received a specimen from British
Honduras from Mr. Blancaneaux. They did not procure the species in Guatemala, and
we believe that the above records constitute all the occurrences in Central America.
Nor does it appear to visit the Antilles, unless we except the island of Cuba, where,
according to Mr. Cory, P. cryptoleuca is found. We have, however, never ourselves seen
a specimen from this island.
The Purple Martin of North America winters in the continent of South America,
apparently in Brazil. It has never been fouud in British Guiana, but specimens are in
the British Museum from Bahia and Para, while Natterer met with the species at Barra
do Rio Negro, from December to February, again at Manaqueri in December, and also
at Pernambuco and Rio do Janeiro.
What the species recorded by Tscliudi as common on the coast of Peru {cf. Tacz.
Orn. Pérou, i. p. 230) can be, Ave are unable to say.
The following is Dr. Brewer’s account of the habits of the Purple Martin, as given
by him in the ‘ History of North-Americaii Birds ’ :—
“ The Purple Martin is emphatically a bird common to the whole of North America.
It breeds from Florida to high northern latitudes, and from tbe Atlantic to the Pacific.
It is very abundant in Florida, as it is in A-arious other parts of the country further
north, and the large flocks of migrating birds of this species which pass through Ea.stei-n
Massachusetts the last of September attest its equal abundance north of the latter State.
I t occurs in Bermuda, is resident in the Alpine region of Mexico, and is also found at
Capo St. Lucas. Accidental specimens have been detected in England and in Ireland.
I t is abundant on tbe Saskatchewan. Burmcister states that this species is common in
the vicinity of Rio de Janeiro, and that it is distributed in moderate abundance through
the whole of tropical South America. Von Pelzeln also cites it as occurring on the Rio
Negro and at Manaqueri through the three winter months, nesting in old buildings and
in holes in the rocks. It is, however, quite possible that he refers to an allied but
distinct species.
“ In a wild state the natural resort of this species, for nesting and shelter, was to
holloAv trees and crevasses in rocks. The introduction of civilized life, and Avith it other
safer and more convenient places, better adapted to their wants, has Avrought an entire
change in its habits. I t is uow very rarely knoAAii to resort to a hollow tree, though it
Avill do so Avhere better provision is not to be had. Comfortable and conA'cnicnt boxes, of
various devices in our cities and large towns, attract them to build in small communities
around the dwellings of men, Avhere their social, familiar, and coniiding disposition
makes them general favourites. There they find abundance of insect food, and repay
their benefactors by the destruction of numerous injurious and noxious kinds, and there,
too, they arc also comparatively safe from their own enemies. These conveniences vary
from the elegant Martin-houses th a t adorn private grounds in our Eastern cities to the
ruder gourds and calabashes which are said to be frequently placed near the humbler