148 THE LANGUAGE OF BIRDS. 
they are often forced to settle to pick up their 
lurking prey. After this circumstantial detail of 
.the life and discerning aropyr} of the swallow, I 
shall add, for your further amusement, an anecdote 
or two not much in favour of her sagacity. 
" A certain swallow built, for two years together^ 
on the handles of a pair of garden-shears that were 
stuck up against the boards in an out-house, and, 
therefore, must have her nest spoiled whenever that 
implement was wanted : and, what is stranger still, 
another bird, of the same species, built its nest on 
the wings and body of an owl, that happened by 
some accident to hang dead and dry from the rafter 
of a barn. This owl, with the nest on its wings, and 
with eggs in the nest, was brought as a curiosity 
worthy the most elegant private museum in Great 
Britain. The owner, struck with the oddity of the 
sight, furnished the bringer with a large shell, or 
conch, desiring him to fix it just where the owl 
hung. The person did as he was ordered ; and, the 
next year, a pair, probably the same pair, built their 
nest in the conch, and laid their eggs. 
" The owl and the conch make a grotesque appear- 
