FLIGHT OF SWALLOW 215 



England and sun-scorched Africa, and from which 

 they always managed to emerge without one 

 apparent speck on their glossy plumage. There 

 were two nests in the tithe-barn, one in the garden- 

 house, and one always in the wood-house, in which 

 I used to keep my tame white and barn owls, though 

 the only access to it, except in broad daylight when 

 the door was open, was by a little round hole in the 

 door, too narrow to allow of the birds entering it, 

 except by deftly drooping and half closing their 

 wings. 



No wonder that the swallow has been considered 

 sacred by most, and is the darling of all, the 

 countries which he visits. There is no need to 

 plead for his protection ; his own charms are his 

 all-sufficient defence and passport. What a delight 

 to watch the unwearied and ever-varying evolutions 

 of his flight throughout the live-long summer day, 

 now as he skims along the smoothly shaven lawn, 

 with open mouth and rapid zigzags to left or right, 

 when some microscopic insect catches his eye, now 

 as he hovers for a moment over your head, now 

 as he essays a longer flight over the fields, darting 

 in and out under the chestnuts or elms or limes, 

 cruising round the grazing or ruminating cattle 

 and luxuriating in the insect life which they 



