1 68 A GARDEN OF PLEASURE 



under the eaves with a hole for them to 

 fly in and out. Our swallows of to-day 

 make flat hasty nests on projecting ledges 

 inside the porch. One nest (re-filled three 

 times last summer) is made up of ugly 

 blackish clay, bearded with long straws of 

 hay hanging down. Is it not a new thing 

 for swallows to- build with hay? We have 

 only one really well-rounded neatly-finished 

 nest, and this is a martin's. The chimney 

 swallows seem to be most hurried and 

 careless. One of our families makes no 

 nest at all, there is simply a layer of mud 

 laid on the ledge. Along the rim the five 

 newly feathered young ones sit in a row to 

 be fed, like five little old owls in miniature. 

 There is one thing that a swallow never 

 forgets or forgives, and that is destroying 

 the old nests. The place remains empty 

 to this day where once we cleared away 

 two overcrowded nests. They love over- 

 crowding. I watched the old birds on 

 their return the following May inspect the 

 place, flying in and out and round about 

 it; but either they forsook us altogether, 

 or nested elsewhere about the house. 



