A HERMIT'S WILD FRIENDS 



I have ever found the birds as intelligent 

 in relation to the needs of their lives as we 

 are to our lives. Migration is not an excep- 

 tion to the rule. 



If man migrates he does so intelligently. 

 Why not grant to birds the same faculty? 



For the sake of illustration we will take 

 the swallows, birds known to all, and de- 

 scribe their method of migration. Remember, 

 that the old birds have been South, that they 

 know the way and do not doubt their ability 

 to pilot the young birds to the new home. 

 They also know, from experience, the perils 

 and hardships of a long flight while battling 

 with wind and weather. Full well they know 

 that young birds, just out of the nest, would 

 not last a day's flight if raw and untrained. 

 So they intelligently proceed to train the 

 young birds into a suitable condition. Early 

 in the morning, after the young are fed, they 

 are marshalled along the wires and fences 

 and drilled in the art of flying. At first they 

 fly in small squads, just a family group, 

 but later they gather into companies and 

 268 



