94 Birds Every Child Should Know 
enough have been trapped to make a pellet, the 
swallow swallows them in a ball, although 
one swallow does not make a dinner, any more 
than one swallow makes a summer. 
These sociable birds delight to live in com- 
panies, even during the nesting season when 
most feathered couples, however glad to flock 
at other times, prefer to be alone. As soon as 
the young birds can take wing, one family 
party unites with another, one colony with 
another, until often enormous numbers assemble 
in the marshes in August and September. You 
see them strung like beads along the telegraph 
wires, perched on the fences, circling over the 
meadows and ponds, zigzagging across the 
sky. Millions of swallows have been noted in 
some of these autumnal flocks. Usually they 
go to sleep among the reeds and grasses in a 
favourite marsh where the bands return year 
after year ; but some prefer trees. Comparatively 
little perching is done except at night, for swal- 
lows’ feet are very small and weak. 
At sunrise, the birds scatter in small bands 
to pick up on the wing the long continued meal, 
which lasts till late in the afternoon. Those 
who have gone too far abroad and must travel 
back to the roost after sundown shoot across 
the sky with incredible swiftness lest darkness 
overtake them. Relying upon their speed of 
flight to carry them beyond the reach of en- 
