CHAPTER VI 



THE SWALLOW AND THE SPARROW 



THE Pelopceus sets us a second problem. 

 She frequents our homes, seeks the 

 warmth of our fireplaces. A nest like hers, 

 built of soft mud, which lets in the water, 

 which would be dismantled by a shower and 

 utterly destroyed by prolonged damp, must 

 have a dry shelter; and this can be nowhere 

 better found than in our dwelling-houses. 

 Her susceptibility to cold makes warmth a 

 necessity. Perhaps she is a foreigner not 

 yet fully acclimatized, an emigrant from the 

 shores of Africa, who, after coming from 

 the land of dates to the land of olives, finds 

 the sunshine in the latter insufficient and 

 substitutes for the climate beloved of her 

 race the artificial climate of the fireside. 

 This would explain her habits, so unlike 

 those of the other Wasps, all of whom shun 

 the too-close proximity of man. 



But through what stages did she pass be- 

 fore becoming our guest? Where did she 

 lodge before quarters built by human in- 

 dustry existed, where did she shelter her 

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