360 THE EAVE SWALLOW. 



date the frail eggs and the tender young. What sweet 

 peace reigns in that little household! What a world of 

 domestic comfort discovers itself in that soft musical chat- 

 ter, so much like animated conversation! What are those 

 little hearts saying to each other, up there away from all the 

 rest of the world? Surely no burdened spirit is carried into 

 the air from that household. But woe to the intruder who 

 may be found within the sacred precincts when the parent 

 returns; and this sometimes occurs in fresh-made nests by 

 pilferers who are too lazy to travel for material for their 

 own domiciles. After a few notes of astonishment and 

 warning, uttered in harsh syllables, the offender is uncere- 

 moniously thrust out, and, held by the scruff of the neck, 

 dangles awkwardly in the air for several seconds, being 

 finally allowed to escape with a volume of execrations.* 



What happy playful creatures are the members of this 

 extremely peaceful colony. Many a sport do they enjoy, 

 unnoticed by the busy and inobservant owner of the premi- 

 ses. See them play with that feather floating like a thistle- 

 down in the air! One seizes it in one of his exact curves, 

 and carries it up many feet, simply to drop it for his com- 

 rade, who again snatches it as it nears the ground, and ele- 

 vates it for the pleasure of the next neighbor who catches it in 

 like manner. Thus the feather is a plaything for the whole 

 company in turn, just as boys would use a ball or a shuttle- 

 cock; and their merriment of chat and laughter is equal to 

 that of the happiest and most animated human voices. 



Those rosy eggs with specks of brown, scarcely to be 

 distinguished from the litters hung to the rafters inside, are 

 incubated by both sexes; and when the young are out of 

 the shell, the parents skim the air most assiduously to 



* The European House Martin has been known to close up the entrance, and so imprison 

 the Common Sparrow of the Old World, which might be entering its nest in search of 

 accommodation for itself; our Martin keeping guard while the mate did the mason work. 



