A Welcomed Rciiirn to Old Haunts. 



65 



the parent-birds access to their young. They very soon began 

 to feed them, making no attempt to build any other nest ; so 

 that the young were successfully reared, and took their flight 

 full-fledged from the \yindow-sill. 



The next spring, when the time for the arrival of the swallows 

 came, great was the surprise and pleasure of their kind hostess, 

 to see, one day, a number of swallows twittering about the 

 window, as if impatient for entrance. On its being opened, in 

 they flew, and, twittering joyfully and circling round the room, 

 as if recognising the old hospitable asylum of the former year, 

 flew out and soon settled themselves under the eaves with the 

 greatest satisfaction. There could be no doubt but that these 

 were the birds that had been reared there. 



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