72 Habit and Instinct. 



fashion, with tail against the ledge. Experiments with a 

 second bird were to the same effect. Both seemed to be 

 " feeling their wings ; " and we believed that we could see 

 some improvement in the art of flying even in the short 

 time that the swallows were under observation. "With the 

 third nestling we made no experiments. When the others 

 had been returned to the nest, we stood back a little and 

 watched them, but were not prepared for what occurred. 

 One got up on the edge of the nest, paused a moment, 

 and then dived down and flew off through the outer door. 

 Where it alighted we could not see, but we searched all 

 round in vain, my fox-terrier Tony assisting eagerly in 

 the search — so that it must have gone some distance, 

 and probably alighted in a tree or shrub. The new ex- 

 perience of aerial locomotion was, it would seem, so 

 satisfactory (and one can well imagine that it would 

 bring with it a sense of novel and delightful power) 

 that it had to be repeated. 



Mr. Howard, who watched the further behaviour of the 

 birds, tells me that the second swallow flew off about 

 two hours later. He searched for the truants, and after 

 some time found them perched on the bough of an ash 

 tree, fifteen or twenty feet from the ground. The old 

 birds, much excited, were feeding them and endeavouring 

 to induce them to return to the nest; but all in vain. 

 They then tried to induce the third swallow to leave 

 the nest, but though he fluttered his wings, he could 

 not quite summon up courage to fly. By ten o'clock 

 the parent birds had gone to roost with their family 

 scattered. Early next morning, however, all three were 

 in the nest, and remained there all day. At about twelve 

 o'clock on the following morning one flew out again, and 

 was away till nightfall ; and later the second took wing, 

 though it returned at intervals during the day. It was not 



