Chapter V 

 SWALLOWS 



"And the gossip of swallows through all the sky." 



— Bryant. 



So sociable in their habits and so fearless and 

 friendly toward man are the Swallows, they are 

 among our best loved birds. The members of no 

 other family come quite so close about us, for 

 some Swallows even seek the shelter of barns 

 and outbuildings for their home sites, while 

 others inhabit the houses and boxes erected for 

 their occupancy by the loving hand of man. 

 They, too, are expert flycatchers, but their habits 

 are quite different from those of the family we 

 have just studied. Being provided with long, 

 slender wings, they are among our strongest and 

 most graceful fliers. They spend most of the 

 hours of daylight on the wing, picking up the flies 

 and gnats of the air. So much time do they spend 

 in flight that their feet are undeveloped, so small 

 and weak that they are not good walkers. Barn 

 Swallows, stumbling about on the grass, remind 

 one of clumsy infants just taking their first 

 steps. This family is not especially noted as 

 singers, yet their happy warbles bring much 

 cheer, making them very welcome neighbors 

 during the long summer days. 



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