io8 THE SWALLOW 



A homely German proverb says : — 



When the swallows go away, the flies stay, 



which means that the birds are a benefit by 



ridding the land of • .,. 



flies, and also, in an- >: ""'"-- . ^- "■ 



othersense.thatsome- , s^ ^ >. ' -z^ .. ", 



times bothersome ' '.cV.:-, 



people remain 



around after - " -^ 



the more . .... ; ^^ ^^, .:C/j#^2 _ 

 serious ones ' " "'"'^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 

 have departed. The Danish '*'^' ' 



people have a proverb which attributes a 

 selfish reason to the summer visits of our 

 bird, but we are well aware of its untruth ; -^ 



The hypocrite is like the swallow — with us in the sum- 

 mer, and away at the approach of bad weather. 



Some proverbs combine both the coming 



