Quick Growth
It is always a marvel how the late-hatched broods of swallows grow strong enough for the migratory flight, which may be as long as five thousand miles. This year the latest brood I have heard of was hatched out on August t6th. The swallow and martin are perhaps the quickest of all developers. Not once but many times I have seen a second or third brood started within a few weeks of the earlier hatching ; and these evicted youngsters roost on neighbouring trees and learn very quickly to fend for themselves, though at first they are fed intensively by the parents. The old birds feed them without alighting, and continue the meals till long after sunset. Every- thing about the swallow is quick, including its growth. It is of the air, aerial, carrying pockets of air even in its bones. To such a creature our common standards do not apply.
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