148 IN NATURE'S WAYS 



When the young are hatched it is a pretty sight to 

 see the party of well-spotted baby birds sitting on a 

 fence-top in a row, being fed by their parents, one after 

 the other, all the young birds opening wide their 

 mouths in the hope of flies. 



n SuHilloto's Strange Hcst 



" A certain swallow built, for two years together, on the handles of 

 a pair of garden shears, that were stuck up against the boards in an 

 out-house, and therefore must have her nest spoiled whenever that 

 implement was wanted. 



And what is stranger still, another bird of the same species built 

 its nest on the wings and body of an owl that happened by accident 

 to hang dead and dry from the rafter of a barn. 



This owl, with the nest on its wings and with eggs in the nest, 

 was brought as a curiosity worthy the most elegant private museum 

 in Great Britain. The owner, struck with the oddity of the sight, 

 furnished the bringer with a large shell, or conch, desiring him to fix 

 it just where the owl hung. The person did as he was ordered ; and 

 the following year a pair, probably the same pair, built their nest in 

 the conch and laid their eggs. 



The owl and the conch make a strange, grotesque appearance." 



