AND THE WILDERNESS BLOSSOMED 



Our big chimney was barely built before the 

 Chimney-Swifts came to occupy it. Although in 

 May and June we have fire almost constantly in 

 the three hearths below, these birds seem to have 

 no trouble in nest-building or rearing their 

 young in the midst of the smoke. We hear the 

 muffled flutter of their wings at night, and the 

 cheerful chirpings as they feed their young by 

 day. Now and then one falls on the hearth, and 

 seems too confused by the novelty of its situation 

 to fly up again, but makes its way into the hall, 

 if the fire screen is far enough out for him to 

 escape. Then it beats its wings against the 

 window-panes until taken in some gentle hand 

 to the free air and sunlight. I remember an 

 enormous colony that used to occupy one chim- 

 ney at Firmins some years ago. Towards dusk 

 they would begin to gather, not by scores or even 

 hundreds, but literally by thousands, circling 

 around the chimney, till at last, all having appar- 

 ently joined the flock, the circles grew closer 

 and the mass resolved itself into a gigantic funnel 

 through which the birds were seemingly poured 

 into the chimney top. Of course it was im- 

 possible to estimate accurately the number of 

 these birds; but the funnel, when formed, 



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