Dictionary

purple martin en · NOUN

Meanings

1. The largest North American swallow, Progne subis.
   • Female and young purple martins are gray and black with some blue on the back. 2013, Bill Thompson, Southern Birds: Backyard Guide:
   • This practice of harbouring and protecting the purple martin does not appear to be of European origin, as the aboriginal Americans had adopted a similar practice from time immemorial. 1831, James Rennie, The Architecture of Birds, page 343:
   • The American purple martin (Progne purpurea) is a visitor to North America, where it arrives in February at New Orleans, and Boston towards the end of April. 1871, Samuel Orchart Beeton, Beeton's Dictionary of natural history, page 193:

Forms

Translations (8)

chr ᏡᏡ (bird) · nl purperzwaluw (bird) · de Purpurschwalbe (bird) · nv táshchozh dootłʼizhí (bird) · ru пурпу́рная лесна́я ла́сточка (bird) · fi sinipääsky (bird) · es golondrina purpúrea (bird) · cmn 紫崖燕 (bird)