272 KNOWING BIRDS THROUGH STORIES 



next door to sleep ; but I have no disposition to criticize the 

 ^housekeeping methods of my little neighbors, especially as 

 every one of the third clutch of eggs hatched and all lived 

 I to maturity. By the first of August there were thirteen 

 martins living in this house. With no family cares, they 

 now roamed over orchard and meadow, sometimes flying 

 : as far as the neighbors which had rendered them such 

 valiant assistance in the spring. 



Toward fall the weather became dry and the only con- 

 venient watering place was the brook near our grapevine 

 playhouse. There these birds came several times every 

 day for a drink or a bath. A thirsty martin would circle 

 back and forth near the surface of the water, every few 

 moments dipping her open bill into the water and scooping 

 up a mouthful. In bathing, they fly close to the surface 

 of the water and then dive, and, coming up again, con- 

 tinue their flight almost without checking speed. Round 

 and round they circle, dipping and splashing for an hour 

 at a time, probably getting the water to the skin in places ; 

 but I have never seen them become thoroughly soaked, as 

 most birds do while bathing. 



When the last of August came and frost might be ex- 

 pected soon, they changed their habits. They would sit 

 for hours on the comb of the house or the limbs of an old 

 dead tree, chattering and preening their feathers. Un- 

 doubtedly birds find it necessary to have their bodies in 

 good condition before they start southward. At any rate, 

 every feather was oiled and preened a hundred times dur- 

 ing the ten days' gathering preceding their departure. Al- 

 most every evening the birds would fly to the similar 

 council that was being held in the neighbor's orchard a 

 half mile away, tho they never remained long at a time. 

 Two or three days before leaving they began to act 



