WILD LIFE OF ORCHARD AND FIELD 



less for them than is usually the case among swal- 

 lows. 



But not the young alone are exposed to enemies. 

 It would seem as though the situation of the nest 

 precluded invasion, yet, if they are near the haunts 

 of the house-sparrow, they are sure to be dispos- 

 sessed of their homes by that buccaneer. Snakes, 

 too, can sometimes reach their holes; weasels, like 

 that one Mr. Hewitson tells us of, are often sharp 

 enough to make their entree from above: school- 

 boys regard the pink- white eggs a fine prize ; and, 

 last and worst of all, the bank-swallows are many 

 times utterly worried out of their galleries by fleas 

 and young horse-flies, which swarm and increase in 

 their nests until the bird finds endurance no longer 

 a virtue, and digs a new latebra. 



xq 



