SOMERSET HILLS 77 



ment to see it standing firm as ever. 

 The Swallows were now pouring out 

 in a black, continued stream. I could 

 compare the noise made within to 

 nothing else than the sound of a large 

 wheel revolving under a powerful 

 stream. I estimated that the time they 

 took in getting out was more than 

 thirty minutes." After cutting a hole 

 in the tree and examining its interior^ 

 the same author makes the following 

 statement: " Let us now make a rough 

 calculation of the number that clung 

 to the tree. The space from the bottom 

 of the tree to the entrance might be fully 

 twenty-five feet, with a breadth of 

 fifteen feet, supposing that the 

 diameter of the tree was five feet at an 

 average. There would thus be 375 feet 

 square of surface. Each square foot, 

 allowing a bird to cover a space of 

 three inches by one and one-half, which 



