70 
OUR HOME BIRDS. 
their dwelling by ordinary means, they at last hit 
upon a plan which at least prevented the intruder 
from profiting by her roguery. One morning they 
appeared with several other swallows, and the whole 
party had their mouths full of moist clay, with 
which, in a very short time, they plastered up the 
entrance-hole as thoroughly as a mason could have 
done it, thus punishing Mrs. Sparrow with impris- 
onment for life and death by starvation. 
“ Quarrels about houses seem to be frequent among 
birds ; and there is a story of a pair of martins having 
built in the corner of a window — one of which, from 
a remarkable white feather in one of its wings, was 
known to be the same bird which had built there 
the year before — and had no sooner finished their 
nest than a strange swallow concluded to take pos- 
session of the property, and once or twice actually 
succeeded in driving the owners out. For a week 
there was constant battling, but after this the lawful 
proprietors were observed to be busily engaged in 
lessening the entrance into the nest, which in a short 
time was made so small that they could scarcely force 
themselves into it singly. When the work was fin- 
ished, one of the firm always remained within with 
its bill sticking out, ready to receive any sudden 
attack. The enemy kept it up for a week longer, 
but at the end of that time, concluding that its 
