, 1908-05-19
IN DEFENSE
OF HOMES
BATTLE ROYAL BETWEEN sWAL'
LOWS AND SPARROWS FOR
THE NESTS OF FORMER.
BeIIi9erent Invasion Of an Enemy Re-
scented BY the Reasoning Of the
Bird Mind-Might Against Right
and Strategy Against usurpation
Pussy at the Feasting.

nard ranch have been for many years
the chosen nesting place of numbers
Of beautiful cliff swallows. There
they have always been welcomed in
the spring and their departure in the
autumn has ever been regarded with
regret. The blue-black birds with
their long forked tails and red-brown
breasts make a pretty sight as they
dart hither and thither in persuit OF
their invisible prey; sometimes skim
ming the surface of the river, some
times high in the air, but always twit-
tering sweetly and always cheerful and
peaceful.
viii Build Nests.
Their nests, dry and protected from
of constructive ability. Built of mud,
brought with infinite labor and dill
| gence, beakful by beakful, from the
margin of the river, these tiny homes
appear to give both the male and fe-
male architect an opportunity to dis
play both their love for each other
and the tender care which will during
the summer be exercised in the hatch
ing and nurturing of perhaps several
families of little ones. They r NO
ordinary round nests, these mud dom
%iciles, but are most carefully planned.
The beakfuls of mud are laid one over
the other like bricks, and with their
rounded roofs and tunnel-like en-,
frances, look like chemical retorts or
gourds cut in half and attached to the
caves.
Sparrows Take Possession.
The same parent birds return year
after year to the same nests, and after
careful repair or complete reconstruc-
ton, go through the same round Of
duty and parental labor But last year
the swallows, upon their return from
the more genial regions Of their win
ter habitation, found their WAS !rou-
BILE awaiting them; trouble Of n very
serious nature. During the winter the
ranch had been invaded by a group OF
the p%ugnacious and unprincipled
house sparrows. These little warriors
had pre-empted the nests of the swal-
lows and were not at all disposed to
give up possession, even to their right
full owners.
Right Against Might.
War to the death was declared i'm
mediately. The swallors were at a
great disadvantage. Though the right
was ON their side, they are not adapt
ed as fighters, either by physical struc-
ture or by disposition, while the spar
rows, with their strong, sharp beaks
and belligerent dispositions, were not
only able to fight but most z to
do so.
Outnumbered Their Foes,
One thing only vas in the favor of
the swallows, they were much more
numerous than the sparrows and more
intelligent. When, after s~cvcral-iays
of warfare, the swallows found that
they could not regain possession of
their homes by force, they were een
to hold council together and then they
resorted to strategy. They flew to the
river and began industriously to car
ry mud with which they attempted to
close up the round tunnels which gave
entrance to the nests occupied by the
sparrows.
Sealed in Living Tombs.
For days the battle waged. Some of
the swallows gave, battle to the invad-
ers while the others worked to close
up the nests. Eventually the sparrows
gave in, for the time being, but not
until several unfledged broods of their
| UnIInp hod onf,o11xr hnnn rro11aI t. -
die a horrible death by hunger and
s~uffocation. Some Of the victorious
swallows built new nests and the sum-
mer passed with only occasional raids
by the sparrows, when they would con-
centrate their attack upon one or two
nests and deliberately destroy them,
pulling the poor little young swallows
out and dropping them to their death
upon the ground below, or deliberately
breaking the eggs.
Sparrows Increase In Numbers,
This summer the swallows have re-
turned to find that the task of taking
possession of their homes is greater
than last year. The sparrows are
more numerous and are more deter
mined. The fight has begun in deadly
earnest and Is to the death. Another
factor has crept stealthily into the sit.
uation. The several cats about the
barn have become aware of the fact
that the bellegrents are often so alb
sorbed in their struggle that it is pos
sible to surprise them and both swal-
lows and sparrows are as welcome to
the feline palate as + mice and go
piers.
Food for Tabby.
Last night as the fray ragged at sun
set, a sparrow and a swallow locked
in deadly combat fell from a nest to
the ground. There was a flash Of q
long, tawny-yellow body, a CLEAN of
sharp. white claws and both little war
riors. were in an instant but small
heaps of ~lifeless and bloody plumage.
And SO the little girls upon the ranch
are taking a hand in the var Every
minute OF their time when not in
school is occupied in watching the
CATS Woe betide the pussy that is
seen watching beneath those caves
They are chased most r~emorselessiy
with big sticks and great stones.
WhoopIns Cough.
I'm February our daughter had the
-1,.l w.