294 CONFIDENCE OF BIRDS IN MAN. 
they were novelties ; yet they preferred the dwelling- 
house to the more lofty eaves of the storehouses, and 
in the following season returned with augmented 
numbers to the same spot. Fort Chepewyan has existed 
for many years, and trading posts, though far distant 
from each other, have been established in the fur 
countries for a century and a half ; yet this, as far as 
I could learn, is the first instance of this species of 
swallow placing itself under the protection of man 
within the widely extended lands north of the great 
lakes. * What cause could have thus suddenly called 
into action that apparent confidence in the human race 
with which the Framer of the universe has endowed 
this species, in common with others of the swallow 
tribe ? It has been supposed, that birds frequenting 
desert countries, and unaccustomed to annoyance from 
man, would approach him fearlessly, or at least be less 
shy than those inhabiting thickly peopled districts, 
where they are daily exposed to the attacks of the 
great destroyer of their tribes. But although this may 
be true of some families of birds, it is far from being 
generally the case. On the contrary, the small birds of 
the fur countries, which are never objects of pursuit, 
and scarcely even of notice to the Indian hunter, are 
shy, retiring, and distrustful, their habits contrasting 
strongly with the boldness and familiarity of the 
sparrows, that are persecuted to death by every idle 
boy in Europe. Nay, some species, which are bold 
enough during their winter residence in the United 
States, evince great timidity in the northern regions, 
where the raising their progeny occupies their whole 
time. In like manner, the redbreast of Europe, familiar 
as it is in winter, sequesters itself with the greatest 
care in the breeding season. The question, however, 
* The late Governor De Witt Clinton, has given a very inte- 
resting history of the closely resembling species H. fulva , which 
about sixteen years ago began to build its nests on the walls of 
houses in the Western States, and has, every succeeding summer, 
been advancing farther to the eastward- — Vide Ann. Lye . New 
York , i, p. 156. 
