376 ENGLISH BIRD LIFE 



"Swallows" nesting under the eaves. The time 

 is uncertain, but it is safe to say that birds had 

 nested there for at least two hundred years. 



To the pond, the true Swallows also come, and 

 they may be seen carrying in their bills a short 

 straw or twig. This is coated with mud, and the 

 pellet transfixed by the straw is borne to the nesting 

 site. In this manner the wall is " tied in " and 

 the structure greatly strengthened. 



So through the long summer days the Swallow 

 flits, happy alike in work and play. Family cares 

 sit lightly upon him. When his young can fly, he 

 meets and feeds them in the air, joyously as though 

 it were a game. '' Happy Swallow," says Davy 

 in his Salmonia. " He is the glad prophet of the 

 year — the harbinger of the best season ; he lives a 

 life of enjoyment amongst the loveliest scenes of 

 Nature; winter is unknown to him, and he leaves 

 the green meadows of England in autumn for the 

 myrtle and orange groves of Italy and for the palms 

 of Africa." Happy Swallow! But Black Care 

 rides behind the swiftest horseman, and can it be 

 said that those sabre-like wings leave the spectral 

 rider entirely behind? Alas, no. Now and again 

 as he flies, he may be seen to give a curious little 

 wriggle and shrug. A cruel little parasite is upon 

 him, crosses continents and seas with him, never 

 leaves him from the cradle to the grave. 



So true is it that to none have the gods vouch- 

 safed the perfect life. 



