their nests, as did also many pairs of 

 Carolina chickadees and prothonotary 

 warblers." 



The flight of the Tree Swallow is mar- 

 velous and wonderfully beautiful. It 

 flies more in circles than do the other 

 swallows, especially at the approach of 

 night, when the flight is much lower than 

 it is earlier in the day. Its flight does 

 not seem to have the velocity of that of 

 the barn swallow nor of the chimney 

 swift, yet it is graceful and suggests 

 the great endurance of the bird. "They 

 skim above the water, hour after hour, 

 frequently uttering a faint squeak, which 

 doubtless expresses their gratification at 

 the capture of a choice morsel, or their 

 disappointment at a failure." Upward 

 or downward, forward and turning, skim- 

 ming over the water or sailing in curves, 

 its flight is so easy that we may, with 

 Alice Cary, call this little bird a swim- 

 mer of the air. 



This Swallow, which is easily distin- 

 guished from its sister species by the 

 shining greenish black color of its back 

 and the pure white color of the-plumage 

 underneath, is very useful in the economy 

 of man. Its food consists almost entirely 

 of insects which it catches most dexter- 

 ously while on the wing. The large 

 gape of its mouth perfectly adapts it to 

 this method of collecting food. When 

 the insect is caught, and it seldom fails, 



the bill is closed with a snap that would 

 seem to indicate exultation over the cap- 

 ture. While many of the insects upon 

 which the Tree Swallow feeds — such as 

 the Hessian fly, the wheat-midge and 

 weevils — are very destructive to vegeta- 

 tion, it has also been shown that it devours 

 a large number of the smaller dragon-flies, 

 insects that are predaceous and are very 

 abundant in grain fields and meadows. 

 It would seem, however, that its destruc- 

 tion of the harmful insects would over- 

 balance the number of useful species that 

 it destroys. In the fall it feeds quite 

 largely upon wild berries. 



Mr. Langille writes eloquently of the 

 habits of the Tree Swallow. He says : 

 "Behold it 'skating on the air.' How it 

 dashes along, seemingly almost without 

 exertion, capturing its food or dipping 

 its bill into the glistening stream to drink 

 or washing itself 'by a sudden plunge,' 

 all of which scarcely retards its onward 

 movement. In a moment it is out of 

 sight, or else, rising nearly perpendicu- 

 larly, it will suddenly shoot across the 

 tree tops with almost lightning speed, 

 performing the most wondrous aerial evo- 

 lutions as easily as if it were tossed by 

 the winds themselves. The whole do- 

 main of the air is the Swallow's home. 

 No path of insect is beyond its reach, 

 and what bird of prey can overtake it? 

 Here is freedom indeed and a life that is 

 one continual recreation." 



THE OLD YELLOW HEN. 



"I'll have you arrested for cruelty to 

 animals !" cried Margaret, laughingly. 



"Not if you want to be invited to camp 

 to eat a chicken dinner," was the re- 

 ply. 



"I don't ; when I come I expect to be 

 regaled with bass and pickerel, else what 

 is the use of a fisherman cousin?" she 

 returned. 



"You shan't come at all if you make 

 such dreadful threats," he retorted, lift- 

 ing the reins. 



As the loaded camp- wagon jolted out 



of the yard there might have been seen, 

 as the story-tellers say, the heroine of 

 this tale, the yellow hen, packed snugly 

 into the end of a length of stovepipe, her 

 head bobbing back and forth as she 

 peered anxiously at the changing pros- 

 pect. Up the hills creaked the heavy 

 vehicle, the campers beguiling the way 

 with plans for their weeks of freedom 

 in the woods ; whatever the feelings of 

 the helpless passenger, thus ruthlessly 

 .torn from her home and companions, she 

 made no sign. 



197 



BDEEBXflEOESDj 



