A Fellow of Expedie?its. 157 



had surprised them a few times, two more were added ; 

 whether to get out more quickly when all were inside, 

 or simply for the sake of drilling the holes, I do not 

 know. Sometimes a pair of birds will have five or 

 six holes drilled, generally on the same side of the 

 building. 



Two things about my family in the old barn aroused 

 my curiosity — what they were doing there by day, 

 and how they got out so quickly when alarmed. The 

 only way it seemed possible for them to dash out on 

 the instant, as they did, was to fly straight through. 

 But the holes were too small, and no bird but a bank- 

 swallow would have attempted such a thing. 



One day I drove the birds out, tlicn crawled in 

 under a sill on the opposite side, and hid in a corner 

 of the loft without disturbing an3'thing inside. It was 

 a long wait in the stuffy old place before one of the 

 birds came back. I heard him light first on the roof; 

 then his little head appeared at one of the holes as he 

 sat just below, against the side of the barn, looking 

 and listening before coming in. Quite satisfied after 

 a minute or two that nobody was inside, he scrambled 

 in and flew down to a corner in which was a lot of 

 old hay and rubbish. Here he began a great rustle 

 and stirring about, like a squirrel in autumn leaves, 

 probably after insects, though it was too dark to see 

 just what he was doing. It sounded part of the time 



