Nature on the Roof 



coaxed; the sparrow is suspicious, and though easy 

 to tame, quick to notice the least alarming movement. 

 The swallow will not be driven away. He has not 

 the slightest fear of man; he flies to his nest close to 

 the window, under the low eave, or on the beams in 

 the out-houses, no matter if you are looking on or not. 

 Bold as the starlings are, they will seldom do this. 

 But in the swallow the instinct of suspicion is reversed, 

 an instinct of confidence occupies its place. In 

 addition to the eave-swallow, to which I have chiefly 

 alluded, and the chimney-swallow, there is the swift, 

 also a roof-bird, and making its nest in the slates of 

 houses in the midst of towns. These three are 

 migrants in the fullest sense, and come to our houses 

 over thousands of miles of land and sea. 



Robins frequently visit the roof for insects, especi- 

 ally when it is thatched ; so do wrens ; and the latter, 

 after they have peered along, have a habit of perching 

 at the extreme angle of a gable, or the extreme edge 

 of a corner, and uttering their song. Finches occa- 

 sionally fly up to the roofs of country-houses if 

 shrubberies are near, also in pursuit of insects; but 

 they are not truly roof -birds. Wagtails perch on 

 roofs; they often have their nests in the ivy, or 

 creepers trained against walls; they are quite at 

 home, and are frequently seen on the ridges of farm- 

 houses. Tits of several species, particularly the great 

 titmouse and the blue tit, come to thatch for insects, 

 both in summer and winter. In some districts where 

 they are common, it is not unusual to see a goatsucker 

 or fern-owl hawk along close to the eaves in the dusk 

 of the evening for moths. The white owl is a roof -bird 

 (though not often of the house), building inside the 

 roof, and sitting there all day in some shaded corner. 

 They do sometimes take up their residence in the 



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