A Robber in" the Old Orchard 



as a graceful form skimmed over Johnny Chuck's 

 head, and turning like a flash, came back. It was 

 Forktail the Barn Swallow, the handsomest and 

 one of the most graceful of all the Swallow family. 

 He passed so close to Johnny that the latter had 

 a splendid chance to see and admire his glistening 

 steel-blue back and the beautiful chestnut-brown 

 of his forehead and throat with its narrow black 

 collar, and the brown to buff color of his under 

 parts. But the thing that was most striking about 

 him was his tail, which was so deeply forked as to 

 seem almost like two tails. 



"I would know him as far as I could see him 

 just by his tail alone," exclaimed Johnny. "I 

 don't know of any other tail at all like it." 



"There isn't any other like it," declared Skim- 

 mer. "If Twitter the Martin is the largest of 

 our family, Forktail is the handsomest." 



"How about my usefulness?" demanded Fork- 

 tail, as he came skimming past again. "Cousin 

 Twitter certainly does catch a lot of flies and in- 

 sects but I'm willing to go against him any day 

 to see who can catch the most." 



With this he darted away. Watching him they 

 saw him alight on the top of Farmer Brown's barn. 

 "It's funny," remarked Johnny Chuck, "but as 

 long as I've known Forktail, and I've known him 

 ever since I was big enough to" know anybody, 

 [1151 



