Daily American organ. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1856, 1855-07-27

and received considerable damage and although
the bssiegsrs wers always driven back, they were
slwsys sure 70 return The swallows we're az work
by the earliest dawn In repairing the breaches IN
their e.Fthwsgks bat a. soon a. this was accom-
plished, the rparrows, being Of the nature o. 2
light guerilla force. and therefore unoardensd Win
: comunl-.sdst which would have obliged Them 70
wait Coz supplies that never c.ns ana ,ne oIoers
al 4 wsrsninlslsr Who gave no orders II all, were
upon them again on the instant
The brave swallows, Il may be supposed, were
much haras.ed bat, BY and BY, they had recourse
"a an engineering expedient which showed very
Extraordinary degree Of intelligence. The spar.
IOWA they knew, had no chance with them In per-
.onal eonfict-ihs Object Of the assailants was 10
get possession Of their hstnesscs and In order 20
render thia more dIihcals, the Swallows actually
built up the door a their nests In front and made
an opepIng behind. where they joined the wall
The chserin Of the assailants, when they discoy
cred thls clever lnan9uyre, was ludicrously evi.
dent but nevertheless, With the obstnacy Of true
-par,oxs they continued their attack with I'M
ahaied yigor repeatedly attempting 10 take the
place by storm. aud being a. repestedly repulsed.
The conduct Of one swallow was the special subject
of our admiration--jor We need not say that day
acr day, We returned 20 the spectacle with all the
sagcrness ofthe combatsnts themsclyes--ard often
70 wished ne had the power Of lndivlduAli1ing him
in some way or other.
This champion posted himself within one Of the
nowiy.made doors, rom which his lsil-feathers
protrudcd, aud, well knowing that the sparrows
would not hazard a personal conflict, there he re-
manned with Incredible perseverance,, no far ~ We
know. morning, noon, and night To say that We
watched him every hour Of the day, would be an
cxaggeraiion but the tail-feathers were the hrst
object We saw In the morning, and the last that
waved over the retreat Of the assallsnts In the al
III tt.s .iaet
~ the besieged--a flag 10 immovable that u gave
US the idea Of lie being nailed 10 the mast.
Curious as Il may seem, this singrlar siege con-
tinued till the appearance Of young swallaws show
"a the sssaauts that all hope was over and they
n length took their departure, and we saw them
no more. But the champion was not 30 easily
moved Perhaps he considered the young TO be
In danger; perhaps he had become accustomed 10
his gallant watch perhaps he was proud OF the
distinction he had gained perhaps -. but We
could not tell what might be his inducement: all
we know was, that whenever we Glanced 10 look
at the nest there he. a. alert NJ ever with the
tail.feahers standing out 10 triumph from the door
Surely this was kind Of monomania We won
dered what were really the hours be chose for his
food aud recreation; and the idea even occurred
to us--we acknowledge 10 was Wild one--thal
his grateful brethren provided him with everything
necessary leaving him 10 indulge, as bis sole plea
sure in life, In recollcctions Of his glory. Week
after week passed away, but not 30 the tail Sep.
te nber came, but tho tall did not 20; the leaves
i.l, but the tail stood; and In October, when the
colony fitted TO the moon, or 10 the bottom OF the
waters, this heroic sentinel remained behind.
Was he asleeps Had his feet been 50 long
rooted to the spot that, instead Of migrating, like
the rest, he had sunk into torpidity at honef Our
curiosity was raised TO the highest pitch, and, At
length, placing ladder against the wall, we crept
cautiously up The tail.feathers did not stir, even
when our breath was upon them. We touched
them with our finger. They were cold and mo.
tionless Dead thought We; brave sentinel! he
died at his post! We removed the nest gently,
and, bringing Ii down 10 our friends, the rector
and his family, we found the tall In IL, but nothing
more Three feathers, arranged so m 10 repre-
sent exactly swallows tail, were firmly fixed In
the threshold Of the door!