houses of worship and public buildings open, as did the Orientals. But every latticed belfry or any public tower where they can find a small entrance soon becomes the home of a flock of swifts. All deserted cabins and abandoned country houses have large families of them in the chimneys. In singing of the house of God, David felt that his work would not be complete without putting in these birds, and other friendly little creatures that homed there : "Yea, the sparrow hath found her an house, And the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, Even Thy altars, O Lord of hosts, my King and my God." Because so many of the swallows nested in the temples, the whole species were held almost sacred, for any bird which built in a place of worship was supposed to be claiming the protection of the Almighty. No one would have dared interfere with a nest so placed. So inflexible was the rule to protect birds building in temples that the laws governing them there held good elsewhere, to the extent that they were welcomed near homes and regarded as a blessing. So all over those fortlike structures with clay and stone walls, and roofs supported with heavy timbers, that were the homes of the Holy Land, the swallows flocked. They sailed over the heads of the children at play, and above the men and women at work in their gardens among the herbs and vegetables. These birds of long ago darted back and forth familiarly as they do now, even more so, because they were protected, where some people of to-day might consider them a nuisance. They were a part of the home life of villages and walled towns. They built their nests of clay, interlaid with hair and straw, lined with feathers, and laid their little white eggs. They brooded inside buildings where people ate, slept, and worked at looms weaving linen cloth and making garments. They peered over the edges of nests under the roofs, and watched the labourers in the gardens, growing their mandrakes, cucumbers, onions, and lentils. When their young hatched came busy times. Then F those good folk saw how wise they were to protect the swallows, for in those tropical countries, flies, mosquitoes, and other tiny insects of air were great pests. The people must have seen that myriads of these were being sifted from the air by these birds and fed to their nestlings. No doubt this made the swallows doubly welcome. I like to think that in those days the brightly clad `men and women, who were so near to nature and to God, took the time to observe and to love the birds as they studied the stars and phenomena of nature. I cannot imagine the people who lived in Shechem, Gilgal, Hebron, Bethlehem, Nazareth, and Jerusalem rushing through life as we live it to-day. I like to picture them gleaning their fields, working their gardens, and watching their flocks, living a full life, but not a hurried one. I dream of those linen-clad women in gay colours of blue, yellow, and purple attending the welfare of their families, even as Abigail; but with time to teach their children the commandments and laws; time to linger in the spicy, odorous air; time to stand before their caged doves and coo back at them as they treated them to handfuls of wheat. These were the men and women who inside the walls of Jerusalem turned at morning and evening toward the temple and those outside faced the Holy City, and, dropping upon their knees, lifted their voices on the fragrant air and praised the Almighty. The swallows darting back and forth to their young must have been a part of the picture that these Christians in the fields, gardens, and on the housetops saw as they prayed. In this home life it is very probable that the sweet, low note of the parent swallows, uttered so lovingly to their young, was an accustomed and welcome sound. For the swallows do not talk enough to become tiresome, and what they say has sufficient melody to be attractive. The swifts were not so intimate in the pictures of home life. They scattered more widely during the day, and at night or feeding-time rushed across fields and gardens, through streets and by-ways, and their voices were wilder, harsher, and not at all attractive. They cried almost constantly, too, as if in mourning; and I believe it was them, and not the swallows, Hezekiah had in mind when he sang his Trouble Song, in which are the lines: Like a swallow or crane so did I chatter, Because they liked to build in temples and places of worship, the swallow gained the protection of all people. Much as they were loved and appreciated in Bible lands, they were shown even greater honour by the superstitious people of Greece and Rome. At Athens, when the coming of the swallows announced spring, the youths who sang in temples marched in procession through the streets, chanting a welcome to the returning birds. Pliny had wonderful things to relate of them. First, as to their migration, he wrote: "The swallows are gone from us all the winter time. Howbeit they depart not far off, but seek only the sunshine nooks near at hand, and follow the warmth. Where many times they are found naked without feathers altogether, as if they had moulted. It is said that they will never build their nest in any house in Thebes because that city hath been many times forced and taken by the enemy." He relates that Cecina of Volaterrae, who was master of the coach horses at Rome and used to run races, was accustomed to take a swallow from the nest of the house of each of his best friends and carry the birds to Rome. There he would paint them with his colours, and release them when he was winning at the races, so that they would fly home and announce his successes long before the swiftest postmen or carriers. A story too quaint to omit must be given in his words: "Also Fabius Pictor reporteth in his annals, that when a fort which the Roman garrison held was besieged by the Ligustines, there were a she swallow newly taken out of the nest within the fort, from her little ones as she sat over them, and brought to him with this watchword, that by a linen thread tied to her foot instead of a letter, he should advertise them within the fort, by so many knots tied within the said thread, as there would days pass before aid could come from him unto them, to the end that they also might be ready upon that day to sally forth." This bird of free wing and unbroken spirit has circled the globe in its endless sailing. It is sweet of voice, beautiful of form and motion, everywhere a blessing. No wonder that in all time it has been thought to be under the protection of the Almighty. CHAPTER XI THE PEACOCK "Once in three years came the navy of Tharshish, bringing gold, and silver, and ivory, and apes, and peacocks."-1 KINGS. THE native home of the two known peafowl is Japan for the plainer species; and Siam, Ceylon, and India for the commonest and most beautiful. In these tropical jungles nature seems to riot and revel in bright shades, and not upon flower faces does she lavish more brilliant colours than upon her birds. Of the many gaily feathered creatures none exceed the peacock in length of showy plumage or surpass its gaudy colour. So wonderful are the shades changing from blue to green, lavender, purple, bronze, gold, and rich tans and greys to almost black, that a cry of admiration greets every appearance of the bird, whether among naked savages or civilized travellers. The most ardent admirer of the peacock, however, is the bird himself. He simply becomes intoxicated with his splendid colour, and spreads his great train of bright plumes, waves, lifts, and turns it to the glancing colours of the sun. When the tail is picked for market, the bird is so overcome with shame that he hides for days and will not appear in his accustomed places until driven by hunger. At times he mourns his loss until he really dies from starvation. Peafowl are of the tree tops and the earth. They build, lay their eggs, and brood on the ground: but when nesting cares are over, the highest branch of the forest is theirs. Among the tallest trees of Ceylon and Siam, covered by gay lichens and brightly blooming vines and air plants, these birds breed and increase until they form flocks of thousands. When they spread their gay feathers and make display of their graces the very flowers of the |