20 THE SWALLOW 



with man, are kindly in their dealings with 

 one another. If one of them is injured, it is 

 no reason for leaving her alone to suffer. 

 Many incidents might be told which would 

 illustrate this good trait. We will relate but 

 one, the story of an injured swallow in the 

 streets of Paris. This is what an eyewitness 

 tells : — 



" A swallow, through some accident, I don't 

 know what, was one day caught by the foot 

 in a slipknot of a rope which had been 

 stretched to the eaves of one of the public 

 buildings. She had tried to free herself and 

 then, becoming exhausted, was hanging from 

 the rope, crying aloud and now and then 

 making fluttering and vain attempts to get 

 away. All the swallows round about, to 

 the number of several thousands, had gath- 

 ered around her. They made a dense cloud, 

 and all the time they cried aloud in alarm 

 and pity. After a while they seemed to hold 

 a noisy consultation and one of them evi- 

 dently hit upon a plan to free their com- 



