Bird Life in a Suburban Parish 103 



The nest is ehieHy l)uilt in the early part of tlie day, and 

 then left to dry before the work is resnnied the following 

 niornino-. 'i'he l)irds may be seen eoUeeting nind from 

 puddles in the road and in farmyards and ])onds, and I 

 have even watehed them pieking it nj) from the metals of 

 a tram-line after rain. A pretty sight it is to see a House- 

 martin ehasing' a big- white feather as it is earried hither 

 and thither by the gusts of wind, and finally earrying it off 

 to line its newly finished nest. 



15oth Swallows and INIartins, though not aeeoimted 

 songsters, have a remarkably sweet but short song, uttered 

 both on the wing and while perehed on a roof or bare 

 branch of a tree, as they so often do on first arrival. After 

 the young have left the nest, they are often to be seen 

 perching in small companies on a leafiess branch ; young 

 Swallows may readily be distinguished from the adults by 

 the absence of the two long pin-feathers in the tail. 



The whole question of bird nfigration is a cm*ious one ; 

 and while we know more about it than in the days of Gilbert 

 AMiite, there are many points which have yet to be cleared 

 up. One of the most curious facts about it is the departure 

 of the young Swallows and other lairds before that of their 

 parents. 



]Mr. Dixon writes in one of his books, " The JNIigration 

 of Birds" (pp. 178-9): "The young i)irds are the greatest 

 blunderers — the birds which have practically no knowledge 

 Avhate^'er of the road ; and ha^ e to de})end entirely on the 

 guidance of older birds. That this is the case is abundantly 



