BIRDS OF PEASEMARSH 



proud of as they flitted about the yard catch- 

 ing flies for themselves. But they came to grief 

 with the second lot. These were found one 

 morning lying dead on the stable floor. A pair 

 of European Sparrows that all summer had 

 dodged our efforts to get them must have done 

 the deed. So the next year we shall have one 

 family of Swallows less to catch the flies in our 

 barnyard. 



In a stable not far away the fork-tailed Barn 

 Swallows had nested in safety high above the 

 horses for a number of years. Then came a 

 summer when a new chore boy appeared, and 

 scarcely had they begun to hatch their first 

 nestlings, when down came the nest, and the 

 little broken eggs lay scattered on the stable 

 floor. The Swallows would not go into the 

 stable again all summer, and all summer long 

 the horses were tormented by a horde of flies. 

 Had that boy, when a child at school, heard 

 something of the value of birds and learned to 

 regard them as friends and neighbors that 

 Swallow's nest would never have come down, 

 and the old farm horses could have taken their 

 meals in peace. 



It is little wonder that such experiences make 

 [33] 



