Birds by Land and Sea 



the gutter as shown in the picture, and when I found 

 her, was quite dead. 



I have been able to keep an August brood of 

 swallows under continuous observation. The nest 

 was built at the point of intersection of a beam and 

 one of the rafters of a cartshed, and as soon as the 

 young began to perch, the row of small white breasts 

 formed a pretty picture as their owners waited for 

 the return of the parent bird with supplies. There 

 was one place on the front edge of the nest which 

 formed the object of continual competition, the 

 occupant being shoved and shouldered in a very 

 human fashion by those who were only fortunate 

 enough to possess second-best seats to right and left 

 of him. With six young ones to feed, the hen 

 laboured practically without ceasing. Almost every 

 minute she flashed into the shed with a sudden call, 

 hanging on to the edge of the beam as she deposited 

 the insects she brought inside one of the gaping 

 mouths. The persistent expectancy of the young 

 bird occupying the front place seemed to indicate 

 that he held his position to confer privileges equal 

 to the difficulties of retaining it, and this confident 

 attitude was all the more comical for the suddenness 

 with which he snapped his bill and sat with his chin 

 in the air when the tit-bit had been passed to another. 

 For the hen performed her duties with some dis- 

 crimination, frequently passing through the first line 

 to extend her benefactions to the meeker triplet 

 sitting on the rear edge of the nest. Occasionally 



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