SWIFTS, SWALLOWS AND MARTINS 



inevitable. Their escapes from collision are 

 marvellous ; but the birds are not infallible, 

 as is shown by the untoward fate of a swallow 

 in Sussex. In an old garden in that county 

 there had for many years been an open door- 

 way with no door, and through the open space 

 the swallows had been wont, year after year, 

 to fly to and fro on their hunting trips. Then 

 came a fateful winter during which a new 

 owner took it into his head to put up a fresh 

 gate and to keep it locked, and, as ill luck 

 would have it, he painted it blue, which, in 

 the season of fine weather, probably height- 

 ened the illusion. Back came the happy 

 swallows to their old playground, and one of 

 the pioneers flew headlong at the closed gate 

 and fell stunned and dying on the ground, a 

 minor tragedy that may possibly come as a 

 surprise to those who regard the instincts of 

 wild birds as unerring. 



That the young swallows leave our shores 

 before their elders late in August or early 

 in September is an established fact, and the 

 instinct which guides them aright over land 

 and sea, without assistance from those more 

 experienced, is nothing short of amazing. 

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