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Do Purple Martins Inhabit Bird Boxes in the West?

Authors
Aldo Leopold
Journal
Condor
Volume
20
Issue
2 (March-April)
Year
1918
Pages
93
Section
From Field and Study
Online Text

Do Purple Martins Inhabit Bird Boxes in the West?

This year the writer erected a martin box at Albuquerque, New Mexico. I have since kept my eyes open for instances of successful martin boxes in the southwest, but have found none. Last summer I found Purple Martins (Progne subis) nesting abundantly in pine snags killed by impounded waters at Lake Mary and Coleman Lake, in Coconiso County, Arizona. It occurs to me that this bird may not yet have become domesticated in the west. Can any reader of THE CONDOR enlighten me on this question?

Aldo Leopold

Albuquerque, New Mexico, February 21, 1918

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