(PURPLE MARTIN.)
+Progne purpurea+, _Hudson, P. Z. S._ 1872, p. 548 (Patagonia);
_Scl. P. Z. S._ 1872, p. 605; _Scl. et Salv. Nomencl._ p. 14;
_Durnford, Ibis_, 1877, p. 32 (Chupat), 1878, p. 392 (Central
Patagonia); _White, P. Z. S._ 1882, p. 595 (Buenos Ayres).
+Progne elegans+, _Barrows, Bull. Nutt. Orn. Cl._ viii. p. 89
(Bahia Blanca). +Progne furcata+, _Baird, Rev. A. B._ p. 278;
_Sharpe, Cat. A. B._ x. p. 175.
_Description._--Uniform deep purple-blue; on each side of the back a
small concealed tuft of white feathers; tail-feathers black, washed
with blue: total length 7·7 inches, wing 5·55, tail 3·3. _Female_:
upper parts dull purple; head, neck, and lower parts blackish brown.
_Hab._ Argentina and Patagonia.
The Purple Martin is occasionally seen in the eastern provinces of La
Plata when migrating, but has not been found nesting anywhere so far
north as Buenos Ayres. I met with it breeding at Bahia Blanca on the
Atlantic coast, and on the Rio Negro, where it is very common. It
arrives in Patagonia late in September, and leaves before the middle of
February. On the 14th of that month I saw one flock flying north, but it
was the last. It breeds in holes under the caves of houses or in walls,
and its nest is like that of _P. chalybea_; but many also breed in holes
in the steep banks of the Rio Negro. They do not, however, excavate
holes for themselves, but take possession of natural crevices and old
forsaken burrows of the Burrowing Parrot (_Conurus patachonicus_).
In size, flight, manners, and appearance the Purple Martin closely
resembles the following species, the only difference being in the dark
plumage of the under surface. The language of the two birds is also
identical; the loud excited scream when the nest is approached, the
various other notes when the birds sweep about in the air, and the
agreeably modulated and leisurely-uttered song are all possessed by the
two species without the slightest difference in strength or intonation.
This circumstance appears very remarkable to me, because, though two
species do sometimes possess a few notes alike, the greater part of
their language is generally different; also because birds of the same
species in different localities vary more in language than in any other
particular. This last observation, however, applies more to resident
than to migratory species.
[3] [I here follow Mr. Sharpe in considering the Purple Martin of
Argentina and Patagonia separable from the closely allied northern
species of North America. But I am altogether sceptical about its
occurrence in Chili, which Dr. Philippi expressly diaries (P. Z. S.
1868 p. 534) and for which I know of no good authority.--P. L. S.]