An English swallow once selected a strange resting-place. At
Corton, Lowestoft, England, a naturalist discovered a swallow’s
nest with young birds in it on the revolving part of the
machinery of a common windmill.
The particular spot chosen was the “wallomer,” the outer edge
of one of the wheels. The revolutions averaged thirty a minute,
and the naturalist estimated that in that time the nest traveled
about one hundred and eighty feet. The young birds would
certainly be experienced travelers before they left such a nest.
The mother bird, when sitting, usually traveled tail foremost,
and when she entered or left the mill she had to make use of the
hole through which the laying shaft projected. To do this it was
necessary for her to dodge the sails, which were, of course,
hung close to the wall of the mill.
When the creaking and shaking of the machinery of a windmill
is taken into account, one can hardly fail to be struck with
the peculiar taste of the bird that chose such an apparently
uncongenial spot in which to rear her young.--_Harper’s
Weekly._
(1419)
=Home Discipline=--See FAMILY RELIGION.