62 



NATURE STUDY IN SCHOOLS. 



the swallows do chance to obtain a foothold first, they can often hold their 

 own in spite of the sparrows. I once watched a conflict between a pair of 

 swallows and a lot of marauding sparrows. The swallows had found a 

 cavity in the end of a partly decayed limb of an elm, which stood on 

 the banks of Charles River, near a bridge. Here they were building a nest 

 and had evidently taken possession before the sparrows became aware of the 

 suitableness of the cavity as a nesting site. 



It was instructive, as illustrating the sagacity of the swallows to watch 

 their method of preventing the entry of the sparrows. The opening of the 



Fig. 29. 



Head and tail of White-bellied Swallow, 



cavity was directly in the end of a broken branch, and unless a bird found a 

 foothold by alighting in the cavity, it would not well cling anywhere. The 

 way in which the swallows prevented the sparrows from entering was by 

 simply blocking up the entrance by one of the pair sitting in the opening. 



Several sparrows made frequent attempts to enter at irregular times, 

 but were always foiled by this simple method, and the swallows found time 

 to gather material and build when the sparrows got weary in their efforts. 

 In fact, one or the other of the pair was thus nearly always at work. 



I visited the place at intervals during the summer, and was satisfied 

 that the swallows succeeded in rearing a brood of young in this well 

 earned home. 



The white-bellied swallows remain late in October in Massachusetts, 

 often feeding at this time upon the berries of the wax myrtle, which are so 

 common on our coast at this season, the waxy matter which surrounds the 

 berry evidently furnishing them with nutriment. 



