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Purple Martin
Adult male--Blue black.
Adult female--Upper parts blue black; under parts grayish, with indistinct white tips to the feathers; belly white. Length--8.00.
Breeding Range--Throughout the United States.
The nests are built of any available material, and are generally placed in bird boxes or in buildings; formerly they nested in hollow trees, and perhaps they continue doing so in more remote districts.
The eggs, numbering 4 to 5, are white. Size--.98 x .73.
These birds are gradually leaving their old resorts. What is the cause of their so doing is hard to say; some people attribute it to the increasing numbers of the English sparrows. Some places that I know of (near South Orange, New Jersey) have been used during years past for nesting purposes; this year I was told the birds arrived about the usual time; after stopping for two days they left, and have not been seen again; but in this place the English sparrow had been carefully killed off, so that there were but few left.
The breeding season begins about the middle of May.
611.1. Cuban Martin: Progne cryptoleuca Baird.
Very similar to the purple martin, but smaller, and with narrower tail feathers.
Breeding Range--Southern Florida.
Nest and nesting habits described as identical, except that it breeds in hollow trees as well as in buildings, and the eggs are slightly smaller.