BIRD PARADISE 21 



the exercise until I could only see them as they 

 passed from the shadow of the trees into the 

 lighter open space. The whole procedure was 

 exactly what I should expect from the bats but I 

 never before had seen the swifts up so late. It 

 occurred to me that flies of a particularly luscious 

 sort were making a short stop on our hilltop and 

 the swifts had to keep awake late in the evening 

 in order to get their share. There seemed to be 

 a sort of fellowship between the creatures which 

 argued well for the characters of both. I could 

 hear the bills of the birds snap as the flies passed 

 their portals but my bat friends gave no sound. 

 One of the toothsome viands that the bat enjoys 

 is the common mosquito. I encourage this taste 

 in the creatares, feeling that it is a good thing for 

 the bats and really a commendable use to which 

 the insects can be put. It may be that the swift 

 has a relish for the best groomed mosquitoes. If 

 it be so his indulgence of it to the utmost is fully 

 approved by the parson. 



I notice that the ants are busy with household 

 duties very similar to those now occupying the 

 attention of the thrifty housewives in our hill 

 country. Among the busiest of these active citi- 

 zens I class those which bear the name of mound 



