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Swallows and Feathers 8i After this I regularly provided feathers for them, and many an hour's entertainment did they furnish me, for I never tired of watching them. They seldom failed to see a feather as soon as it was placed on the grass, and would begin to fly back and forth above it. At first they were a little shy and flew so rapidly they often missed their aim, but soon they learned to slacken speed as they dived for the feathers and would seize one nearly every time. I gradually decreased the distance from the piazza until, finally, they would come within three feet of me for them. They always took them on the wing, never alighting to pick them up. It was an interesting sight when the successful bird was chased by the rest of the crowd. They usually came in squads of from three to six, and, in trying for the feathers, would fly in rapid suc- cession, one after the other, each diving to the ground as he passed by. But as soon as one bird got a feather the others would all leave the field and give chase, and many a time they would press him so hard that in turning this way and that to evade them, the feather would slip from his beak. Then there was a whirling and scrambling for it I Sometimes the owner would catch it again, but more often another bird would snatch it and fly away, only to be pursued in his turn. I have seen a feather dropped and seized three or four times before the barn door was reached. When the wind blew it was hard for a Swallow burdened with a feather to make headway against it. Often it avouM be wrested from his grasp and go sailing away in the air, only to be caught again and borne onward. Sometimes, if the bird had a firm hold of it, he would be turned completely around and even forced to fly backward for a moment. One of the small 'shoe-shops' so common throughout some sections of New Hampshire thirty years ago, stood not far from the piazza, and to this low roof the Swallow would frequently carry his prize ; here he would stop, turn the feather about or lay it down while he took a firmer hold of it, seizing it squarely in the middle. The other birds would alight on the roof near him, watching intently but not offering to touch it, until he was again on the wing, when they would instantly give chase. Their selection of feathers was especially interesting ; every Swallow tried for the largest. When several were put out at one time the smallest ones Avere always left till the last. In regard to color they were equally particular. At first I selected for them the softest and downiest feathers, whether brown or black or white ; but the birds invariably cliose the white ones and often refused the dark colors altogether.