OUR PRICELESS SWALLOWS 



which to make soft lining for the nests, that the very 

 fragile pure-white eggs which are to be deposited may 

 not be broken. 



One day I visited a colony situated in a gravel cut, 

 just off a main road. The burrows were not deep, and 

 from one of them I took out a parent bird which was 

 incubating, having previously set up my camera 

 focused on a hole, and, placing it at the entrance, 

 secured a snapshot before it escaped. Meanwhile I 

 had allovv'ed the horse to graze by the roadside un- 

 hitched, watched over by Ned. Just ahead there was 

 a rise of ground and a turn in the road. I had not 

 thought about the possibility of an automobile coming 

 along, but, as luck would have it, one came just then, 

 going at very moderate speed. Before I could get back 

 the horse broke away from Ned, shied into the fence, 

 and then dashed off with the shafts, leaving the rest of 

 the vehicle hung up. The animal only ran to the next 

 farmyard, where it stopped and was caught. The 

 driver of the machine was a gentleman. He stopped, 

 proffered assistance, gave his number, and so on. 

 Though I was out a buggy, I did not sue him, as he 

 had been so polite, and I was at fault for leaving the 

 horse as I did. But the country roads are very narrow, 

 and these engines put residents and visitors in the 

 country in jeopardy of their lives. It is not only ill- 

 mannered, but lawless and criminal for anyone to 

 invade country roads with an automobile and not drive 

 with the utmost care, stop when he is asked by the 



185 



