XXVI 



THE CHIMNEY SWIFT 



THE house on the old homestead was a two-story one, 

 or rather what nowadays would be called a story- 

 and-a-half, which means that the upstairs rooms were 

 rather low and near the roof. We boys slept in those 

 upstairs rooms, and the chimney was only a few feet from 

 the head of my bed. Usually I thought little about the 

 chimney, except to appreciate it on cold nights. But in 

 the summer-time on Sabbath mornings, and on other morn- 

 ings when we were allowed to sleep an extra hour, this 

 chimney was a nuisance. With the first break of dawn 

 the trouble began. Suddenly we would hear a rattling 

 twitter, then a nunbling noise as tho something were 

 being poured into an empty barrel, and then such a squeak- 

 ing as would waken even a tired growing boy. No sooner 

 would it stop and one would turn over, feeling that now he 

 was going to get a little quiet, than the whole performance 

 would be repeated. As the morning progressed, the noise 

 became so persistent that it was impossible to sleep. And 

 what do you suppose caused it all? 



When the first settlers came to America, among other 

 interesting things they found a small greenish black bird 

 with slender wings and with feet so poorly developed that 

 it very seldom attempts to alight. This bird was in the 

 habit of building its nest in tall hollow snags or trees. 



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