The Barn Swallow 205 



the elongated tail feathers, these alone being the mark of the 

 maturity of the birds. 



These swallows have always been recognized by the farm- 

 ers as their friends, and in the construction of their barns they 

 usually provide openings for them to go in and out. Some 

 of the farmers have a supersitition that ill luck will 

 come to a person who kills them and that a building which 

 they take possession of will not be struck by lightning. Wheth- 

 er this be true or not, their sprightly warble makes even the 

 rudest barn cheerful and homelike, and because of the good 

 service they render to the farmer in dstroying the flies and 

 gnats which worry the horses and cattle they deserve his pro- 

 tection. They feed almost exclusively upon these and other 

 harmful insects, which they take from the air while in flight. 

 Nothing, perhaps, adds more to the beauty of our landscapes 

 than the twittering and flight of these birds when they are 

 taking their food. The quickness of their flight and the grace- 

 ful curves made by them as they wheel to and fro through "the 

 sky blue" is pleasing and interesting in the highest degree. 

 Near by where I leave the interurban cars to drive to Somer- 

 leaze is one of the old-fashioned barns close by the river side. 

 This is a favorite place for these birds. Many a half hour 

 have I sat and watched them, while I waited for the cars or 

 wagon. They love to fly up and down the river, and often 

 they dip into and skim over the surface of the water for quite 

 a distance. I have always enjoyed these birds. 



Longfellow's Evangeline has been one of the dearest 

 poems to me in my life, for the sad sweet story it tells, for its 

 beautiful language and for its many beautiful descriptive pas- 

 sages of the woods and all nature. In it the poet refers to the 

 swallows and the strange legend concerning them. In the 

 happy childhood of Gabriel and Evangeline, 



"Oft in the barn they climbed to the populous nests on the rafters, 

 Seeking with eager eyes the wonderful stone which the swallow 

 Brings from the shore of the sea to restore sight to the fledglings. 

 Lucky was he who found that stone of the swallows." 



I am glad that I have lived during the last three score 

 years and ten the most momentous evolutionary years of 



