Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1869-07-21

| was standing one dull, grey afterno0a
in September, talking with a friend at the
door of her house, when suddenly she e1-
claimed There 90 the swallows - And,
looking up, | p%received a dark cloud sweep
ing over our heads, u-o.inS s~-ihtly. aud
straight as an arrow from a bow, in the di:
rection of the western sky.
1t was indeed our dear friends Of the
long summer days, taking their departure.
I They had that moment taken wing, and
risen into the air, and were off on their
mysterious fight to unknown lands.
d" | have been watching them said ny
friend, q" for several days past assembling
on the caves of the roof. and flying to and
fro in a state of great commotion, prepar-
ing for their fight, and nov they are gone
at last. l wonder whether we shall ever
see them again ?"
We stood and watched them until they
had faded away into a faint speck IN te
distant sky. "Shall we ever see thsn
again."
Strange to say, it is a known fact, tat
these extraordinary little birds are not oily
guided by some secret power, towards ne
balmY skyes where winter Is unknown, ut
are actually enabled to find their way bsA
to the very places in which they spent he
summer. and even to the very spots In
which they built their nests.
| remember, when | was a child, beng
shown a pair OF swallows who had re
turned for three years in succession to blild
in a small closet in an old school hose.
They entered by a broken pane in the cse-
ment, and they formed their nests in a or
ner above the window. They allowed o. no
intruders and not a single young bird out
of the broods that were Matched, was ever
seen to come back to the place Of It's birth,
after it had once quilted the nest. Bur
it was ascertained that the old birds were
always the same.
Another pair OF swallows ! once heard
Of who had deserted their family ia tucau-
tumn, rather than remain behind when
their companions were gone, came back TO
the nest in the spring, ami pulled out the
dead bodies of the poor little halt-Aelged
birds they had left. Fond Is they We're OF
their little ones, they would sooner abandon
them to perish with hunger, than be left be-
hind when the time comessbr If
How little we know of the wonders mat
are daily and hourly going on around Us in
what is called the > animal creation" We
should find it a very interesting occupation
to study the habits and Instincts OF the liy-
ing creatures which surround US far more
interesting, and far more profitable, than
the occupation in which we love so dearly
to indulge-that of spying out the habits,
and finding fault with the words and ways
of our neighbors, l would advise you all,
my children, to turn your attention to the
beautiful birds and animals and insects
which live with US in the world. and TO
study their curious habits and characters.
Many a lesson and many an example, you
will learn as you do SO. From the swal-
lows shall We not learn at least a lesson of
humility?-that we, with all our intellect,
and all the pains and instruction that have
been bestowed upon us, should not be ale
to do that which these wonderful little
creatures are enabled to do, by the instinct
God has given them.