504 LAND BIRDS 



the attention of all passers-by. Near this nest a pair 

 of pygmy nuthatches were occupying a small hollow 

 near the top of a pile, entering by a knot-hole too small 

 for a mouse. Both they and the swallows were re- 

 markably fearless. 



The incubation of the swallow's eggs lasted thirteen 

 days, both sexes sharing alike in it. We knew this 

 because one would fly in as soon as the other left ; but 

 they looked so exactly alike that it was impossible to 

 distinguish one from the other. The newly hatched 

 nestlings were- naked, pink, and not unlike a tangle of 

 earthworms. In ten days they were feathered. At this 

 time so fearless were the parents that they did not leave 

 the nest at our approach and, on the last visit, one of 

 the parents allowed herself to be lifted from her brood 

 rather than desert them. This was remarkable in con- 

 trast to bank swallows, which are excessively timid ; 

 but it was very like the brave little eave swallows and 

 the martins. 



For the first ten days of their existence the young 

 Tree Swallows were fed by regurgitation, at intervals 

 varying from five to thirty minutes according to the 

 time of day. During the early morning hours — from 

 four to six — the meals were most frequent. At this 

 sunrise time, also, the adults frolicked over- the water, 

 catching insects, skimming the lightest spray of the 

 waves with a splash in the sparkling ripples, and twitter- 

 ing merry greetings as they passed each other. 



