saw and heard it were impossible to divine, but they were always most at ease when parties were busiest with their own concerns.Fife Herald. THE CAT NO MATCH FOR SWALLOWS.-One evening during last week, while the wind was from the south, and blowing with sudden gusts, a swallow's nest in the corner of a window in Maybole, was blown down, and the scarcely fledged young, six in number, were thrown to the ground. Two of them were secured by the humane gentleman, the corner of whose window the "old uns" had tenanted for many a year; three others were afterwards found in the street, and the five were lodged in a wooden cup or dish in a garret room, where, the window being left open, the old birds entered, and converted the dish into a nest. The sixth, however, was still missing, nor was it discovered for an hour afterwards, when it was seen on the green sward behind the house, in a dangerous predicament. A cat had marked it for her prey, and would have devoured it instanter, but that all the swallows about Maybole had come to its rescue, and screeching their bitter war-cry were swooping at her in dozens, and whisking the hair out of her head at such a rate, that poor Grimalkin ran a great chance of being picked to death. Fairly routed, puss beat a speedy retreat, when unprecented though the incident may appear, the young swallow was raised by about half a dozen of its brave defenders. carried up, not without difficulty, to the garret window, and restored to its place amongst the rest of the brood, all of which are now fully feathered, and will be soon on the wing.-Ayr Advertizer. |