AT WORK AND PLAY 217 



just missing the top of the door or window frame, 

 skillfully dodging any human being that may be 

 standing in the doorway and never pausing for 

 an instant in the swiftness of their flight. They 

 cling to the old beams or to the edge of the nest 

 where they are opposed by a row of four or five 

 pinkish yellow mouths which form conspicuous 

 targets for the discharge of mouthfuls of insects. 

 All the young twitter excitedly, but all those 

 which are unfed as well as the lucky one or two 

 that are fed, quickly subside as soon as the parent 

 goes, and the yellow commisures of their mouths 

 alone are seen in the twilight of the rafters. 

 Sometimes both parents arrive with food at the 

 nest at the same time and the consequent excite- 

 ment is doubled. 



The song of the barn swallow is rarely men- 

 tioned in the books. One reads of their twitter- 

 ing calls from the air or the barn roof. To my 

 mind the barn swallow is one of our most de- 

 lightful singers. His song is always full of 

 charm, soft and lovely, devoid of all roughness. 

 Besides delivering an individual song, he delights 

 in singing in chorus. It is a sweet and cheerful 



