1 8 About the Feathered Folk. 



chance of the youngest and least 

 sensible Swallow being lost for lack 

 of guidance. 



All the world knows when the 

 Swallows go, and how they go. 

 Hannah Hatherly watched them 

 last year, when, in the earliest 

 gleam of the dawn, they rose in 

 hundreds from the big barn roofs 

 and took their southward way. All 

 the world misses them, and wishes 

 them a safe return. 



But who ever saw the Cuckoo 

 start? 



The old birds leave England in 

 August; but the younger ones cannot 

 be ready then for so long a flight. 

 They go upon their lonely way, 

 flying singly along the track where 

 their kindred have gone ; and in 

 the far-off southern clime they 

 "fore-gather" with the unknown 

 relations whom they have never 

 seen. 



How do they recognize their 



