CHAPTER IV 



THE SWALLOW IN BELIEFS AND OMENS 



As we have learned from the stories of 

 natural history and legend, the swallow is a 

 very sociable bird. She lives not only in 

 large communities of her own kind, but she 

 loves and seeks the companionship of man, 

 building in the eaves and windows of his 

 barns and houses, and rearing her young" 

 family in his very dooryard. It is natural, 

 therefore, that the folk of all countries have 

 come to be familiar with her daily habits. 

 They observed her busily fetching mud and 

 fashioning it into her curious nest. They 

 saw her fighting her old enemy, the sparrow, 

 in his attempts to rob the pretty new home. 

 They watched her, when the heavens were 

 clear, soaring almost out of sight in the blue 

 above; and again, when dark clouds hung 



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