294 ADVENTURES AMONG BIRDS 



nest and remain there for a space of three or four 

 minutes, doubtless to warm the young. At all events, 

 I don't think it was merely to rest themselves, as on 

 previous days I noticed that when they wanted to rest 

 they would fly into one of the empty martins' nests 

 close to their own. 



That last day came to an early end, as it began to 

 get dark at four o'clock, and the old birds settled down 

 with their young for the night. 



The following morning, although somewhat chilly, 

 was more like April than November, with a light wind, 

 a crystal clear sky, and a sunshine with a magic in it 

 to enliven the world and give renewed life even to the 

 perishing. , The old birds had vanished and no faintest 

 sound came from the nest. I waited some hours, then 

 procured a ladder and took the nest down, and found 

 two full-grown dead young martins in it. One had 

 died that morning, probably at two or three o'clock, 

 before the turning of the tide of life; the other looked 

 as if it had died about two days before. 



This is but one case and it happens to be the only 

 one of an exceptionally late brood which I have had 

 an opportunity of observing closely, yet to me it does 

 suggest the idea that we may be mistaken after all in 

 our belief that the migratory impulse or passion will 

 cause the swallow to forsake its late-hatched offspring, 

 leaving them to perish of starvation in the nest. More 

 observation is wanted, but the case described inclines 

 me to think that so long as the young continue alive 

 and able to emit their hunger cry, the parental instinct 



