A HAY-BARN IDYL 



their bodies half out of the nest. A day or two later 

 I hear a fluttering sound over my head and look up to 

 see one of them clinging to the outside of the nest 

 and exercising his wings vigorously ; for a few seconds 

 he clings there and makes his wings hum; the flying 

 impulse is working on him, and soon it will launch 

 him forth upon the air. Two or three times a day 

 I see this feat repeated. The young are doubtless 

 all taking turns in trying their wings to see if they 

 are as recommended. Then the parents come in, 

 evidently with empty beaks, and take turns in hov- 

 ering in front of the nest and saying, " Wit, wit," 

 approvingly and encouragingly, and then flying 

 about the empty barn or making a dash at phoabe 

 as she sits with flipping tail on a beam. Presently 

 they resume their feeding. The next day there is 

 more wing exercise by the young, and more hovering 

 and chirping about the nest by the parents. Some- 

 times the latter sit quietly upon a beam, and then 

 the male flies up and clings for a moment to the 

 side of the nest, and squeaks softly and lovingly. I 

 think the great event, the first flight of the young, is 

 near at hand. I go to dinner and when I return and 

 am about to enter the barn, the mother swallow 

 sweeps down toward me and calls "Sleet, sleet," 

 which I take to be her way of saying "Scat, scat," 

 and I know something has happened. Looking up 

 to the roof, I see one of the young perched upon it 

 a few inches from the lower edge. He looksscared and 



