BIRDS OF PEASEMARSH 



One winter, when the Swifts were away in the 

 south, the house was burned and only the stone 

 wall left standing. The Swift's chimney was 

 gone. In the early spring when the birds were 

 coming back we began to think about our dusty 

 little friends and wonder where they could go. 

 The children were in despair. They said the 

 Swifts might think we had burned the house 

 down on purpose so they could no longer nest 

 with us. Such a misunderstanding with our 

 old and valued tenants, the Chimney Swifts, 

 would never do. Something had to be done. 



Finally it was suggested that a chimney 

 should be made of lumber and fastened up in 

 the same place. This was done, four pieces of 

 lumber being nailed together in the form of a 

 square. As these boards were thirty feet long, 

 this tall chimney, when resting on the top of the 

 remains of the furnace in the cellar, reached up 

 above the wall in the very place where the 

 Swift's chimney had been. A little fire was put 

 in the furnace, so that the smoke, escaping 

 through the long board chimney, would give 

 it a blackened appearance that might make the 

 birds feel more at home. It was not quite so 

 roomy as the brick chimney had been, but we 

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