54 STOIilES ABOUT BIRDS. 



weather is over, and is a proof of the old adage, that " one swallow does not 

 make a summer." It is often so much the worse for him. The cold east wand 

 that troubles us so long in the spring kills or benumbs the insects, and the poor 

 swallow cannot find a single fly to eat. Then all that the swallows can do, is 

 to seek out some sheltered nook, in which to drag on a kind of existence on 

 the few insects that, like themselves, have taken refuge there. 



One spring the swallows came as usual, but the weather changed, and 

 they went away, and everybody wondered what had become of them. The 

 weather was extremely cold, and no insects were about. At last some one 

 happened to find his way to a sheltered place, in a valley near to the sea, and 

 lo and behold ! there were the swallows flying about by hundreds. There 

 they had found a few insects on which to subsist. But they had no great 

 amount of food, and were in a veiy feeble state, and obliged to settle and rest 

 themselves every few minutes. 



The swallows have been seen crossing the Channel, on their way to 

 England, either singly or in flocks. They seem very much tired, and are 

 slad to settle on the boats that are on the water. Sometimes a swallow is so 

 exhausted she can hardly fly from one end of the boat to the other, when a 

 sailor tries to catch her. And a sailor declares that he saw one drop on the 

 sea with her wings expanded, as if quite spent ; then, after a few minutes of 

 rest, she rose again refreshed, and flew off merrily. 



All the strength of the swallow is in her wing ; her feet are feeble, and 

 her legs very small. She could not walk very well upon them ; but then she 

 is not much used to walking. 



Though her feet are feeble, the toes are strong, and the joints very loose. 

 There is a horny claw at the end of the toe, and she can cling if she cannot 

 walk. She often wants to cling when she is building her nest, and sometimes 

 to hold on to the wall — a feat that seems rather difficult to perform. 



But the loose toes are drawn up by some muscles that go up the leg, and 

 then they can clutch quite tight to anything. And she often plasters her nest 

 as she clings, and rests a little on her stiff tail. 



Her tail is forked and like a rudder, that guides her through the air. You 

 have a good view of it in the picture, for it is quite expanded, and shows the 

 two white spots beneath. 



Her eyes project, and are no doubt very terrible to the insect world. She 

 catches her prey as she flies, with her wide gaping mouth. Her throat is. 



