The Swallow and the Sparrow 



out; so did the mother, after the little ones 

 were beginning to grow up. Then, at early 

 dawn, both were at the windows, in a mighty 

 state of distress outside the glass barrier. 

 With eyes still heavy with sleep, I had to get 

 up hurriedly and let the poor things in. No, 

 I shall not allow myself to be persuaded 

 again; never more shall I permit the Swal- 

 low to settle in a room that has to be closed 

 at night and still less in the room where I am 

 describing the misadventures that befel me 

 owing to my too-accommodating kindness. 



As you see, the Swallow with the nest 

 shaped like a half-cup well deserves his 

 epithet of domestic, inasmuch as he makes 

 his home inside our houses. In this respect, 

 he is among birds what the Pclopa^us is 

 among insects. Here we have once again 

 the question of the Sparrow and the Wall- 

 swallow: where did he Hve before houses ex- 

 isted? Personally, I have never seen him 

 build his nest elsewhere than in the shelter 

 of our habitations; and the authors whom 

 I consult do not appear to be any wiser on 

 this subject. None of them says a word 

 of the manor occupied by the bird apart 

 from the refuges provided by human in- 

 dustry. Can it be that his long frequenta- 

 tion of our society and the consequent sense 

 147 



