8o BIRD PARADISE 



their yearly wanderings they give each locality 

 where they tarry enough of their attention, so 

 that it really appears as though they regarded it 

 with a homelike feeling. All the Northern birds 

 that I saw wintering in Oklahoma seemed en- 

 tirely contented and happy. I apprehend that 

 when they are once entered upon their vacation 

 any place where they are is the spot where they 

 like to be. Plenty of good food, with fairly 

 comfortable quarters, gives most of our biads a 

 homelike feeling. 



All the members of the swallow family seem 

 to be masters of the science and beauty of flight. 

 Each species illustrates movements that it has in 

 common with all the others, and each excels in 

 some special grace. The eave swallow is par- 

 ticularly graceful in some of its upward curves — 

 a trait of character gradually attained, doubt- 

 less, from the long practice of moving in that 

 manner, as they leave their nests under the eaves 

 of the barn. A colony of these fellows practice 

 a' very pleasant kind of social bird life. The 

 nests are placed on some slight projection, shel- 

 tered by the overhanging roof, and are very good 

 examples of the skill of birds having for their 



