OUR WINGED HOUSE-FELLOWS. 



else are most human societies founded save 

 such mutual advantage ? And do we not 

 often feel real friendship for those who serve 

 us for hire well and faithfully ? In the 

 midst of so much general distrust of man, 

 I accept with gratitude the confidence of the 

 house-martins. 



All members of the British swallow-kind 

 are amply represented in and about our 

 three acres. The common swallows breed 

 under the thatched eaves of the ruined shed 

 in the Frying Pan, and hawk all day over 

 the shallow trout-stream that bickers down 

 its middle. You can tell them on the wing 

 by their very forked tail. It is, I think, in 

 part a distinguishing mark by which they 

 recognize their own kind, and discriminate it 

 from the martins ; for the outer-tail feathers 

 are particularly long and noticeable in the 

 male birds, whence I take them to be of 

 the nature of attractive ornaments. At the 

 beginning of the breeding season, too, the 

 males assume a beautiful pinky blush on 



