376 THE LIFE OF A BIRD. 



An interesting anecdote has been related of a 

 pair of swallows, which has reference to our pre- 

 sent subject. In the inside of the upper loft of a 

 mill a pair of them built their nest. They flew 

 into the room through a broken pane in the 

 window. As, however, the hole by which they 

 themselves had entered was very small, it cost 

 them a great deal of trouble to induce their young, 

 when fully matured, to make their escape by the 

 same aperture. Probably the young disliked the 

 apparent danger of the experiment. As, how- 

 ever, there was no other outlet for them, either 

 they must come out by this aperture, or must 

 remain and perish. This gave their parents great 

 uneasiness, and they appeared for a time at a loss 

 how to induce their rebellious progeny to make 

 a bold attempt and follow them through the broken 

 pane. At length they hit upon an expedient 

 which is not peculiar to bird-parents when the 

 little ones prove refractory. The parents went 

 outside and held a tempting bait in the shape of 

 some flies just without the opening. One by one 

 the young ones ventured to get through the open- 

 ing, until finally all securely emerged. After this 

 there was no further difficulty, as the young 



